Inn of the Damned

'70s Ozsploitation movie Inn of the Damned combines the Western and horror genres and, in my opinion, does it very well.

The film stars Alex Cord as American bounty hunter Cal Kincaid, who teams up with Trooper Moore (Tony Bonner) to capture ruthless Australian criminal Biscayne (Robert Quilter); meanwhile, local innkeepers Caroline and Lazar Straulle (Judith Anderson and Joseph Fürst) -- old acquaintances of Biscayne -- subsidise their income by murdering their lodgers and stealing their belongings. When Trooper Moore goes to the inn to question the Straulles, he winds up becoming a victim of the homicidal old couple (who were driven insane when their children were killed by an escaped convict), leading Kincaid to stop eating peaches off a naked hooker and investigate his friend's disappearance instead.

The film begins primarily as a Western, with the two heroes tracking down their quarry through the scenic countryside, but segues into horror once Biscayne is brought to justice and Moore is murdered.

My favourite part of the film comes when a woman (Diana Dangerfield) and her pretty stepdaughter Beverly (Carla Hoogeveen) arrive at the inn during a storm. While their buggy driver Alfred (Phillip Avalon) is being brutally stabbed to death by Lazar, the women are stripping off to share a bed and to take a bath together. We then learn that the stepmother is a predatory lesbian who has been abusing Beverly, which is totally superfluous to the plot, since both women are bumped off soon after, but that's why it's so great -- it's pure exploitation!

Kincaid opting to spend a night in the inn to try and find out what happened to Moore ramps up the suspense, leading to a tense showdown between the bounty hunter and the elderly psychos. The film does tend to outstay its welcome once the killers have been caught, and the revelation about what is hidden in their secret room is quite disappointing (not nearly as twisted as I had hoped), but on the whole this is a very entertaining film.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for the Straulle's unique method of killing their victims.

At an isolated inn, the elderly owners, Caroline and Lazar Straulle, are killing off anyone who stays with them. Meanwhile, in the same area, a murderer is on the run from the law. At the vanguard of his pursuers is a bounty hunter, Kincaid, a highly resourceful man. It is inevitable that he and the Straulles will cross paths.

Better than expected, though still not great. On the surface this seems like a common-or-garden horror movie. However, it turns out it is better than that, being a crime-drama and an okay one at that.

Yes, the production values are quite low and the plot a bit haphazard but it is interesting enough. Performances are solid, which is the biggest surprise.

Not great though. As mentioned, the plot lacks solidity. Moreover, it is quite padded: the early and middle sections seem to go around in circles and there are several scenes and sub-plots that could easily be left out.

It does end in very thrilling fashion though, making up for the tedium of some of the earlier scenes.

I watched an old VHS copy of this film. The box suggested a Night of the Western Dead, but the film is actually an Australian Western. Turns out director Terry Bourke is pretty good at it. Its about a hotel run by Dame Judith Anderson and her husband(?) weirdo doing the Psycho hotel number. Alex Cord plays an American bounty hunter looking for a sex pervert that is on the run. His story is the most interesting. The film could have left out the hotel thingy-story. Made in 1974. I'm recommending the film as a time filler. Please try to get it on DVD, as the old Paragon VHS is hard to find and kind of hard to watch: the picture is very grainy.

Read anything about "Inn of the Damned" and you'll doubtlessly come across a description of the way the movie was intended as a one-hour long episode of a TV series that was to begin with the director's earlier "Night of Fear". The TV show idea was scrapped when the ABC failed to pick it up, and so Bourke expanded his concept into an almost two hour long movie.

Read any REVIEW of the movie, however, and you'll read about the movie's strange, unsuccessful melding of two genres: the western and the horror movie.

What you WON'T read is what a fantastic short horror movie was buried in "Inn of the Damned"'s almost two hour length. It features the fulfilment of the promise Bourke showed in "Night of Fear", with some genuinely shocking, disturbing, and nail-biting moments.

Alas, these all come too late for those of us with short attention spans. The movie doesn't really try to mix the two genres; it starts as a tepid horror movie, has about an hour long preamble as a middling western, and then goes into full-on horror mode. The horror story could've been told in any time period.

The movie jolts us back into its REAL story with a strange subplot about two young women who stay at the titular inn who hate each other, but the older has sapphic feelings for the younger. Some would say that this is just more bizarre preamble before the movie gets going again, but I see it as a fantastic beginning of the superior and worth the price of admission, final act. It supplies us with nudity and lesbianism, yes, but also a macabre subplot that comes to an even more macabre end. And so the end begins in earnest.

I scoffed when I saw the "Hitchcockian" quote on the video cover. I was wrong. The master would have been proud of the movie's suspenseful, shocking and disturbing final moments. It's just too bad you have to wait so late in the movie to get there.

INN OF THE DAMNED is about a seemingly normal, older couple who run the quiet country establishment of the title. In actuality, they're a pair of homicidal psychopaths with a unique, ingenious method for dispatching their prey.

Many deaths ensue before someone gets wise to the deadly duo, resulting in a final conflict and the revelation of the demented couple's twisted motive.

If you enjoy gruesome tales with just enough naughtiness -bath time!- to keep things interesting, then this is perfect for your next late-night viewing...