Yeah, we're feeling "The Shining" meets "The Evil Dead" meets "1408" mystery-thriller shakes in the frames. That's not a bad thing; the haunted-familiarity gets us up to speed so there's no long-winded preamble to set the story: the red herrings flop immediately and blood flows quickly across the frames -- and not in CGI, but as practical in-camera effects -- and that's appreciated.
This well-shot, acted and paced Tubi-exclusive streamer (debuted this morning, October 20th, 2023) comes courtesy of prolific writer-director Anthony C. Ferrante (in both disciplines, here; you know him from the highly-rated SyFy Channel "Sharknado" series). As with another of The Asylum's writer-director warhorses, Jared Cohen ("Swim," "Shark Season," and "Street Survivors"): even when the plots jump-the-shark, Ferrante always competently works his limited B-List streaming budgets to craft theatrical-level shot films.
While my personal, name-on-the-box streaming encouragement comes courtesy of the always-on-point Judd Nelson: our real leads are the always-dependable AnnaLynne McCord (50-plus streaming flicks-strong; most recently of The Asylum's actually-pretty-good-despite-its-'this is gonna be cheesy'-title, "Titanic 666") and the more mainstream-established Moon Bloodgood (2009's "Terminator Salvation" and 2010's "Faster" with Dwayne Johnson; a recent, multi-episode arc of "NCIS: Lost Angeles").
THE PLOT
We're in a haunted hotel celebrating its 72nd anniversary where, (the story flashes back to the New Year's Eve, 1975 murders, to start) -- and every 12 years, since -- an unknown assailant (we catch a glimpse in the opening frames: he looks like a ragged grim reaper; reminds me of the zombie-knights in Amando de Ossorio's Giallo-bent "Blind Dead" series) murders 12 people (to help with the movie math: murders occurred in 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, and today).
Daniel Brayer (Judd Nelson) is the tale's loopy "legacy tenant": a mysterious "12th Floor" resident -- residing in "Room 1224," natch -- from when the hotel was a residential, rental abode. In a '70s Giallo fashion: he's obsessed by numbers and rants about "multiples of five" and lock-stares walls as he waits for phantom portals to open, etc.
AnnaLynne McCord is Goldie, our public relations/event planner under Ted Raimi's (uh-huh) manager: both are devil-may-care about the guy that just plunged off the roof (to start off the 2023 murders) and all about the party at hand. Moon Bloodgood is the won't-let-the-case-go detective despite her not-showing-all-his-cards boss (played by the always-great Emilo Rivera from FOX-TV's "Sons of Anarchy" and "Mayans MC") urging otherwise. Eventually, Goldie gets wise and teams up with the oddball Brayer to stop the curse once and for all.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
As result of its Stephen King-styled story, I'd enjoy reading "Dante's Hotel" -- as well as "Titanic 666" -- in an expanded novel-adapted form, as both are well-crafted, twisty tales worthy of novelesque backstories (yeah, let's get an eBook division, going, Asylum!). If backed by a major studio with a multi-million budget, either film could have been an effective A24 or Blumhouse-inspired Giallo homage.
This well-shot, acted and paced Tubi-exclusive streamer (debuted this morning, October 20th, 2023) comes courtesy of prolific writer-director Anthony C. Ferrante (in both disciplines, here; you know him from the highly-rated SyFy Channel "Sharknado" series). As with another of The Asylum's writer-director warhorses, Jared Cohen ("Swim," "Shark Season," and "Street Survivors"): even when the plots jump-the-shark, Ferrante always competently works his limited B-List streaming budgets to craft theatrical-level shot films.
While my personal, name-on-the-box streaming encouragement comes courtesy of the always-on-point Judd Nelson: our real leads are the always-dependable AnnaLynne McCord (50-plus streaming flicks-strong; most recently of The Asylum's actually-pretty-good-despite-its-'this is gonna be cheesy'-title, "Titanic 666") and the more mainstream-established Moon Bloodgood (2009's "Terminator Salvation" and 2010's "Faster" with Dwayne Johnson; a recent, multi-episode arc of "NCIS: Lost Angeles").
THE PLOT
We're in a haunted hotel celebrating its 72nd anniversary where, (the story flashes back to the New Year's Eve, 1975 murders, to start) -- and every 12 years, since -- an unknown assailant (we catch a glimpse in the opening frames: he looks like a ragged grim reaper; reminds me of the zombie-knights in Amando de Ossorio's Giallo-bent "Blind Dead" series) murders 12 people (to help with the movie math: murders occurred in 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, and today).
Daniel Brayer (Judd Nelson) is the tale's loopy "legacy tenant": a mysterious "12th Floor" resident -- residing in "Room 1224," natch -- from when the hotel was a residential, rental abode. In a '70s Giallo fashion: he's obsessed by numbers and rants about "multiples of five" and lock-stares walls as he waits for phantom portals to open, etc.
AnnaLynne McCord is Goldie, our public relations/event planner under Ted Raimi's (uh-huh) manager: both are devil-may-care about the guy that just plunged off the roof (to start off the 2023 murders) and all about the party at hand. Moon Bloodgood is the won't-let-the-case-go detective despite her not-showing-all-his-cards boss (played by the always-great Emilo Rivera from FOX-TV's "Sons of Anarchy" and "Mayans MC") urging otherwise. Eventually, Goldie gets wise and teams up with the oddball Brayer to stop the curse once and for all.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
As result of its Stephen King-styled story, I'd enjoy reading "Dante's Hotel" -- as well as "Titanic 666" -- in an expanded novel-adapted form, as both are well-crafted, twisty tales worthy of novelesque backstories (yeah, let's get an eBook division, going, Asylum!). If backed by a major studio with a multi-million budget, either film could have been an effective A24 or Blumhouse-inspired Giallo homage.