News
New section of the 19th edition: Suite 13
In this 19th edition, MOTELX opens the enigmatic Suite 13, a new section dedicated to
works and filmmakers that challenge the boundaries of cinema, starting with the
"Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gordon Lewis and his bloody and
provocative legacy.
Hotel properties are steeped in superstition, which is why they hide the rooms and
floors numbered 13. For the 2025 edition, MOTELX invites guests to stay
in Suite 13, where it has created a new section that proposes an encounter
with filmmakers and works that, throughout the history of cinema, question the
limits of cinematic forms and what can be filmed and shown, in transgressions
that problematize notions of virtuosity and good taste. Through films, visual
essays, and discussions, we seek to understand the role of these works in the
era in which they were produced, their legacy in cinematic history, and the
problems their transgressions can pose today.
We begin with Herschell Gordon Lewis, the godfather of gore, creator of iconic works that not only shaped the grammar of modern horror cinema but also whose influence extends far beyond this film genre. Films like "Blood Feast" (1963), "Two Thousand Maniacs!" (1964), or "She-Devils on Wheels" (1968) demonstrate how Lewis, over time, adapted to capture the public's curiosity about sex and violence, while still invoking the concerns of the reality in which he constructed them.
The filmmaker, often resorting to humor, blatantly displays the interior of the human body, in variations that can range from blood to viscera. The body, in its most grotesque and repugnant facet, the one normally hidden from view, becomes the medium; and the blood, his message.
“
We begin with Herschell Gordon Lewis, the godfather of gore, creator of iconic works that not only shaped the grammar of modern horror cinema but also whose influence extends far beyond this film genre. Films like "Blood Feast" (1963), "Two Thousand Maniacs!" (1964), or "She-Devils on Wheels" (1968) demonstrate how Lewis, over time, adapted to capture the public's curiosity about sex and violence, while still invoking the concerns of the reality in which he constructed them.
The filmmaker, often resorting to humor, blatantly displays the interior of the human body, in variations that can range from blood to viscera. The body, in its most grotesque and repugnant facet, the one normally hidden from view, becomes the medium; and the blood, his message.
“