I checked out this little unknown DTV flick because I've recently become a fan of the excellent LOUIS MANDYLOR, A great underrated actor who has been around for ages & is in his early 50's now & always delivers a standout performance in everything that I've seen him in so far!!!
MANDYLOR is excellent in the Action-Comedy films, The Debt Collector 1&2 with the equally fantastic SCOTT ADKINS, These two teamed up are a joy to watch, & he was excellent in the action packed Cop Thriller THE BRAVE, new on Netflix & I've only just discovered this dude!!! What Mandylor brings to his characters, that are usually troubled & angry tough guys, is a realism & a sense of real rage & emotion something that is special to see among the low-budget variety of films & actors that there is so many of but MANDYLOR stands out because of his raw & intense performances, he seems to give it his all no matter the budget or quality of the overall film & he deserves respect for that as an actor. Here Mandylor plays a newly released Con named, a bad boy named Nicky, who has just gotten out of a tough Romanian prison, & is greeted by his long time best friend named Jimmy (a great Peter Dobson) who is a wise guy type of old school gangster & they both set off to collect a bag of money that's owed them & then onto track down his estranged junkie/theif daughter & her druggie boyfriend, they find them at a motel on the way back their car gets hit & ran off the road down through some woods & into an isolated area with just a huge old abandoned hotel around for miles. I liked this setup that reminded abit of From Dusk Till Dawn in a way & when this now injured foursome take shelter in the decrepit hotel they realise that they are not alone & are now in a place of hell that has a gang of mutant cannibals as their only residents.
There's nothing special about this cheap flick & at times it feels abit slow but it's an easy watch & does have two very good characters (Nicky & Jimmy)
The setup is very cool & the mood is creepy & i loved the characters of Nicky & Jimmy as their relationship is so believable & their banter is perfect too & Nicky's daughter is pretty good too but her lowlife boyfriend is useless & the Cannibals look pretty good, well they're just top less thugs covered in blood & don't talk but they are fine for a group of evil killers hunting our Characters. There's some decent action scenes & some bloody bits but nothing to over the top & is quite restrained really & isn't the blood bath you think it's going to be but what it's a cool little survive the night Horror that feels very 90's in it's small scale & tone & i really liked the huge old abandoned hotel as a creepy setting as our gang wonder through not knowing where their going or how many of those Cannibals are there.
Hotel of the Damned is a cool little late-night Horror film with characters you actually really like & want to survive the night.
