"Meat's meat, and a man's gotta eat!"

I just can't get over it, mortals. Has Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman never disappeared anybody before? Because the day Jamal Khashoggi went missing, just about everybody who isn't dependent on Saudi defense spending said, "Whoa, they just straight-up had that guy killed." It was a sloppy job. Witnesses saw the bone saws.

The Saudis' version of what happened have changed almost weekly ever since, and almost no one has ever believed them. It's the most high-profile hit job anyone's seen in a long time, which means it's a failure, because hit jobs are supposed to have low-profiles.

So it would seem bin Salman isn't very experienced at this, and I find that hard to believe, because come on, the head of one of the wealthiest families of dictators in the world never disappeared anybody before? Why wasn't this handled more discretely. It's baffling.

You know who's good at disappearing people? Farmer Vincent.

This week's Thursday Thriller is Motel Hell.

Kevin Connor directed this 1980 comedy about Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun), an entrepreneur with a lot of irons in the fire and bodies in the garden.

Vincent and his sister Ida (Nancy Parsons) are the proprietors of the Motel Hello, a cozy, little place off the beaten path -- a place you can really get away from it all. Vincent's primary claim to regional fame, though, is his line of smoked meats, which he sells only within a 100-mile radius of home, and, naturally, in the motel's gift shop. The secret to his flavor is that he blends his meats, mostly pork with human.

He keeps a little hidden garden behind the hedge where he buries his victims up to their necks. He and Ida remove their larynx's so they won't scream. Instead they gurgle and hiss. He keeps them fed until he's ready to throw them in the smoker.  His victims include a couple sexual adventurers who found the motel through an ad Ida placed in the swinger's guide, a nosy government inspector, and a punk band called Ivan and the Terribles (featuring John Ratzenberger). There's also Bo (Everett Creach), the biker boyfriend of Terry (Nina Axelrod), a pretty blonde Vincent decided to bring into the motel instead of planting.

Paul Like plays Bruce, Vincent and Ida's little brother. Bruce is also the sheriff and he knows nothing about the cannibalism business. He takes an immediate shine to Terry, even takes her out on a date, but Terry falls for Vince, and eventually the dispute has to be settled by chainsaw duel, beating Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 to the punch by about 7 years.

What I really like about Vincent is his devotion to his work. He's speaks reverently of its importance and feels blessed when he can be creative. It's not just a job to create delicious, smoked meats for people to enjoy. It's his calling. Calhoun is creepy and hilarious in the role.

It's a funny movie, hardly gory at all. There are a couple good songs in it. Wolfman Jack plays a TV preacher. Definitely worth a watch.

Motel Hell streams on Amazon Prime and YouTube.