Inn of the Damned (1975)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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, however, is what a fantastic short horror movie was buried in "Inn of the Damned"'s almost two hour length. It features the fulfillment 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.

The Australian born Dame Judith Anderson returns to her homeland for this Gothic horror thriller that has potential but sadly doesn't meet its expectations thanks to a convoluted back story, an extremely violent structure, and sadly even more, a very slow pacing. The only hint which the audience is given to understand the murderous actions of country inn owners Anderson and Alex Cord is a dream sequence Anderson has which shows a maniacal man rushing into a cave with two children. This disturbing sequence is also explained through portraits of children whom we are lead to believe are paintings of the children in Anderson's dream that the audience is supposed to assume are hers and Cord's. What leads them onto the murderous path they take isn't really clear except that their guests include obvious prostitutes and their clients and some less than law abiding men. The method is quite gruesome, with a canopy bed that literally comes down to crush the victims to death, their screams echoing through the entire inn as the realization of their fate becomes clear to them.Another victim is continuously stabbed by Cord, and when he doesn't pass away quickly, Cord screams out in anguish, "Would you just die already?" before grabbing an axe to finish the job. The aging but still obviously tough Anderson also gets in on the violence, shooting a visiting American lawman who obviously is aware of something going on. Her stalking of this wounded man is scarier than even the crushing sequences. However, while you certainly want to feel sympathy for her possibly having lost her children in such a way, Anderson and Cord's need for revenge on everybody who spends an evening in their inn of the damned really doesn't make sense other than to explain that in their grief they would commit such violent acts.As a huge Dame Judith Anderson fan, I was looking forward to this back in the mid 1980's when she was under contract (but barely on) the daytime soap opera "Santa Barbara". This was shown on Saturday afternoon T.V., hosted by none other than Elvira (Mistress of the Dark) who sardonically remarked that the film looked more like a western than a horror movie. There's some unnecessary comedy bits which throw the mood off at the very beginning and a lush musical score which doesn't aid in the film's horrific theme. Still, Anderson is excellent, plays her role with much subtlety, but Cord appears a bit too young to be her husband. I wanted to like this one a lot more, but the lack of cohesion is really what destroys it.

A most unusual Australian low-budget movie that is deceptively simple in appearance. Terry Bourke, to whom the Australian film industry owes a huge debt, directs his actors with a deft touch. The multi-talented Bourke is also responsible for the insightful, often witty script.The much-loved John Meillon puts in an eye catching performance and it is a pity he isn't used in more scenes. Highly recommended.

Oh my goodness gracious, this one sets the standard for the worst movies of all time. I haven't seen many of those on the worst 500 list but how this turkey didn't make it is anyone's guess. Dumbest food/sex scene in history. Cliched slomo shots - hey this baby's got it all!