My sweet Slasher friends are back on their bullshit (wooo!) this June as Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter return with a Slasher-esque tale of a very unlucky set of motel guests (have they learned nothing?). Headlined by Slasher: Ripper‘s Eric McCormack, who was a gleefully vile antagonist, but not The Ripper and directed by Adam MacDonald, the limited series premieres in Canada on Hollywood Suite on June 13th (yes, a Friday) with the first episode and a fan screening, and then premieres in the US on Shudder on Tuesday, June 17th.
According to today’s press release, here’s what to expect from the horror series that includes both Slasher alumni and new faces!
The new series follows a group of 10 true crime obsessives, who are invited to the opening weekend of the newly renovated Cold River Motel. The site of a 30-year-old unsolved satanic mass murder, history soon repeats itself at the motel when the guests are stranded and start getting knocked off one by one, in increasingly gruesome ways.
“We are thrilled to be the exclusive Canadian broadcaster of Hell Motel,” said Suzanne Marshall, Hollywood Suite Senior Manager, Programming. “With a chilling new setting and story, Aaron and Ian have delivered all of the terrifying scares and gore that genre fans have come to expect. We can’t wait for viewers to discover it this June!”
“Our ongoing partnership with Hollywood Suite means that we get to keep bringing Canadian-made horror to fans who love something fresh and fearless,” said Christina Jennings, Chairman and President of Shaftesbury. “Hell Motel is another great example of what we can do together – creating bold, genre-pushing horror that builds on our past successes and takes things in exciting new directions.”
Eric McCormack leads the cast in the role of Hemmingway, a chef with a wickedly sinister flair. He’s joined by fellow motel guests Paige (Paula Brancati), a former actress and scream queen looking to revive her career; Crow (Shaun Benson), a new-age medium with an apparent connection to the massacre’s victims; Blake (Atticus Mitchell), a true crime writer; Kawayan (Emmanuel Kabongo), a talented artist with a dark focus on murder; Andy (Jim Watson), an academic at the forefront of contemporary true crime studies; and Adriana (Genevieve DeGraves), a flight attendant with several notorious serial killer notches on her bedpost.
Canadian drag superstar and winner of Canada’s Drag Race Season 2, Icesis Couture, makes a guest appearance as Magenta, a stylish real estate agent who sells the Coldwater Motel to new owners Ruby (Brynn Godenir) and Portia (Michelle Nolden).
Hell Motel is a Shudder Original Series, developed and produced by Shaftesbury, in association with Hollywood Suite, with the financial participation of the Bell Fund. The series is created and executive produced by Ian Martin, Thomas P. Vitale and showrunner Aaron Carpenter. Additional executive producers include Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, and director Adam MacDonald. AMC Networks holds distribution rights.
Hell Motel premieres in Canada on Hollywood Suite at 9 pm ET on Friday, June 13th, with the second episode following on Tuesday, June 17th, at 9 pm ET – its normal timeslot. The episodes will also be streaming on Hollywood Suite On Demand. I’ll be over here waiting to see if we get a wicked take on “Hotel California” in the soundtrack.
Canadian fans in Toronto who’d like to attend the fan screening of the first episode at the Revue Cinema should follow @hollywoodsuite and @revuecinema for updates on free, first-come, first-served tickets. In the US, the first two episodes will premiere on Tuesday, June 17th, on Shudder and streaming on AMC+. Here’s a sneak peek!
Photos courtesy of Anthony Fascione for Shaftesbury/Shudder; video courtesy of Shaftesbury/Shudder.
