Hell Motel – Series Review | Shudder

HELL MOTEL on Shudder is a new slasher series that combines true crime fascination with a serial killer and is set in a classic slasher location. Unfortunately, I don’t connect with the characters, which means I’m not crazy about it. Read our full Hell Motel series review here!

HELL MOTEL is a new Shudder horror anthology series. It’s a classic slasher serial killer story built up around our collective fascination with true crime. On paper, this is my jam. Unfortunately, I wasn’t crazy about the characters, so I found myself losing interest.

Even the casting works for me, but that still didn’t make me connect with the series overall. The new Shudder series has eight episodes, and it premieres with the first two 45-minute episodes. For me, those two episodes didn’t make me want to keep watching.

Continue reading our Hell Motel season 1 review below. Start watching on Shudder on June 17, 2025.

A serial killer targets true crime fans

The new Shudder horror series Hell Motel introduces a group of people deeply fascinated by true crime in different ways. The group has been invited to the opening weekend of a location infamous for an unsolved mass murder.

The plan is for these 10 true crime fans to help sell the idea of the newly renovated Cold River Motel. This was the location of the 30-year-old unsolved case that has been labeled a “Satanic Mass Murder”.

The characters have different approaches to true crime. From the classic podcaster to those who study it scientifically, and also one person who has a very, umm, physical approach to true crime.

Basically, she wants to sleep with serial killers and survivors. Yeah, it’s pretty sick.

Anyway, of course, it won’t take long for murders to start happening yet again. And while there are obvious suspects, it seems to go a little (or a lot?!) deeper than that. What will happen is that the true crime obsessives will be getting knocked off one by one.

Exponentially gruesome methods

When I tell you that the kills are described as “exponentially more gruesome”, it might sound like an obvious escalation for this kind of slasher series.

However, when you then see the first murder, it does seem pretty wild.

Sure, the initial murder at the newly renovated motel isn’t too gory in its execution. Mostly because we don’t witness all of it. However, we will see the aftermath, and that part is quite vomit-inducing.

In other words, don’t eat while watching this. Definitely nothing along the lines of pulled pork or confit duck. Just sayin’!

Officially, Eric McCormack (Will & Grace, The Other Black Girl) stars in Hell Motel. However, this is very much an ensemble cast and based on the first two episodes, saying Eric McCormack stars is a damn lie. He plays a key character alongside everyone else.

Pet peeve, sure, but I just don’t like it when a movie or series is billed incorrectly.

The cast of Shudder’s new horror anthology

Anyway, we do have Eric McCormack as Hemmingway. He’s a chef with a wickedly sinister flair who has been hired to help make this true crime experience something out of the ordinary.

Canadian drag queen Icesis Couture (Canada’s Drag Race) also makes a guest appearance as Magenta. She’s a real estate agent who sells the idea of turning the Coldwater Motel into a true crime business to its new owners, Ruby (Brynn Godenir) and Portia (Michelle Nolden).

The guests at the motel include Paige (Paula Brancati), a former scream queen, who was in a movie about the true crime murders that took place in the motel. Also, there’s Crow (Shaun Benson), a new-age medium who has a connection to the original massacre’s victims.

Then there’s the true crime writer Blake (Atticus Mitchell), who is also a survivor of a mass killing, and Kawayan (Emmanuel Kabongo), another person who has made a living off of true crime as an artist.

Finally, there’s Andy (Jim Watson), who has an academic approach and studies contemporary true crime, and Adriana (Genevieve DeGraves), who just wants to bed as many notorious serial killers as possible.

Start watching Hell Motel on Shudder and AMC+

The all-new Shudder horror anthology series Hell Motel comes from the Slasher series creators Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter. Also, Slasher director Adam McDonald is directing this series. Season 1 has eight episodes, and surely, we’ll be getting more if this is a success.

After all, it’s called a “horror anthology series” already, which sounds like more is coming. I would absolutely be ready to check out a new season with a different take. Also, there’s hope this first one can evolve in good ways, but the first two episodes didn’t win me over.

I did, however, enjoy the characters of Shirley (Yanna McIntosh) and Floyd (Gray Powell) as the uninvited or accidental guests at the motel. Honestly, all the actors are good; it’s the writing of their characters that didn’t really do it for me. And that’s a real shame!

Hell Motel has a two-episode premiere on Shudder and AMC+ on June 17, 2025. New episodes are releasing weekly on Tuesdays with the finale on July 29, 2025.

Details

Creators: Aaron Martin, Ian Carpenter
Cast: Eric McCormack, Paula Brancati, Shaun Benson, Atticus Mitchell, Jim Watson, Emmanuel Kabongo, Genevieve DeGraves, Brynn Godenir, Michelle Nolden