Terror at Red Wolf Inn (1972)

Overrated and overhyped

As Good As It Gets

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Brad Pitt look-alike John Neilson plays Baby John, the twenty-something grandson of elderly couple Evelyn (Jackson) and Henry (Space) who run a quaint seaside bed & breakfast sinisterly named the "Red Wolf Inn" where the menu is expansive in both volume and origin. Baby John takes a liking to one of the three nubile young house guests invited to holiday at the inn after supposedly winning a competition. Mysteriously, two of the girls disappear without saying goodbye leading the third (Gillen) to suspect that the overly gracious hospitality is not all as it seems.Director Townsend has fashioned a reasonably taut thriller with a capable cast led by newcomer Gillen, as the perky yet naive college student duped into the darkest depravities of a twisted old couple and their behaviourally immature grandson. Jackson and Space manage their quirky characterisations with seasoned professionalism, Neilson is a twisted yet somewhat sympathetic man-child, and the supporting cast including Margaret Avery and Michael MacReady add familiarity, but it's Gillen's engaging personality that is the real surprise package.While no longer an original concept, and not quite a masterpiece, in 1972 it was a pioneering concept, well handled with enough drama, humour, horror and realism to punch above its relative bantam weight. My only gripe is with the farcical conclusion, by which I felt somewhat cheated; despite the curious ending, it's not a comedy, which more than a few chilling moments will attest, and entertain.

Terror at Red Wolf Inn (1972) ** (out of 4) I've been wanting to see this one for quite sometime now but it turned out not to be as good as the title. A poor college student wins a stay at a resort, which she thinks will be fun until she learns that the owners are cannibals. The horror of this thing doesn't start until the 58-minute mark and everything boring that is pretty boring. The first hour deals with a stupid relationship between the main girl and the owner's retarded son, which just doesn't go anywhere. When the horror aspects start things remain just as boring.

This is one of those `B' movies that can be seen again and again because you keep picking up on little vignettes that slid by before. I just found a copy that I had taped off the air back in the 80s - one of those midnight groaners that in this case, did not turn out to be one. I'm trying not to be a spoiler, but some unmentioned nuances need to be commented upon.Kudos to the cast, and especially to Linda Gillen (Regina), the heroine. Right off the mark there's a poignant scene where she wants to share her good news (winning the vacation) with SOMEONE in her apartment complex, only no one is around. There's a nice long distance shot of her almost lost in the tree-in-the-forest maze of balconies shouting `Hey, everybody, I'm a winner!' You're not five minutes into the film before you LIKE the kid - cute, infectious smile and just plain NICE. She makes you want to put your arm around her.Check out her facial expressions as Baby John (John Neilson) drives her from the airport and does a mini Dukes of Hazard chase scene with the sheriff. She gives a GREAT reaction, reflecting a scared-but-excited young girl who knows she's doing something naughty. At first I didn't pay much attention to John but when I watch reruns of this movie, I realize he does more than a creditable job of a grandma-whipped kid who has only one oar in the water. He also does a fine job of asserting a newfound independence after flashing some embarrassed Daffy Duck type grins in the spanking scene.You also like Margaret Avery (Edwina) -- another charmer who develops a great rapport with Regina during their brief acquaintance. You feel pretty bummed when she `goes home'. Janet Wood (Pamela) does a fine job of being the `model' - pretty, ripe, and succulent. Once you discover what's going on, you can see why she went first, and I suspect some viewers would be asking for seconds. The problem is - she's stuck on herself and shows it and you really don't really feel THAT bad when she goes missing early in the film.Since this is billed as a horror movie, you know something's going to happen to the girls at the lonely house on the beach. (The low angle shots of the Victorian home look suspiciously like the "Psycho' house at Universal Studios.) Arthur Space and Mary Jackson (the old couple) seem friendly enough - until the pig out `going home' dinner for Pamela.That sensuous routine is backgrounded with `Pomp and Circumstance' - the old graduation music, and greatly compliments the scene. The dessert scene tipped me off -- the already stuffed girls had to make room for just a bit more. Regina licks her fingers and says `If I keep this up, I'll get as fat as a pig.' The priceless calculated and approving look Mary gives her just REEKS of menace and impending doom.There are lots of little goodies to pick up on. Except for a few instances, the horror, and humor, is understated. In these days of buckets-of-blood movies, this one stands out for what it doesn't show. Like: The Mystery of the Freezer. Well, we all KNOW what's in there but there's only one instance later on, when Regina has her epiphany, that we actually see anything gruesome. Earlier, when Edwina is chloroformed, to the tune of a lullaby, and taken in there (`Careful Baby Joe, that's Choice Grade A'), the camera lingers on the door while you hear a knife being sharpened, some muffled noises, a chopping sound and an admiring, `Oh look at that!' You can imagine how a remake of that would be done today.Evelyn carries a miasma of malevolence about her. There is always a hint of horror in everything this woman does, from weighing the girls (and beaming at the weight gain) to making sandwiches for an oceanside picnic. When Regina bites into one, she says, `This is delicious. What is it?' Evelyn smilingly replies, `It's filet, dear, filet.' You get the feeling she's licking every letter as she speaks. You want to yell out `RUN, Regina, RUN!' (She does later, only to run into the old couple and told, in a disapproving manner, to get in the truck. Totally demoralized by now, she does. Another great scene.)That beach scenario has an awkward-first-time-they-kissed routine between Regina and Baby John. A nice tender scene that neatly counterpoints the horror that is always lurking in the background. Then, still at the beach, there's a routine where Baby John kills a shark. After Baby John leaves, Regina performs a touching burial of the battered remains. Why this talented young woman never became a bigger name is beyond me.Arthur plays the somewhat befuddled kindly old Henry to a `T'. He talks lovingly to his plants but thinks nothing of butchering the girls. Near the end, when he discovers his trampled plants, he goes into a crooning soliloquy that makes you think he is talking to his dead children. At Regina's `going home' party (by now we all know what THAT leads to) everyone is ravenously attacking their large serving of meat, except Regina. From the shape, you have no doubt it is the rear deck of the recently departed Edwina. Chewing a mouthful in front of Regina, who knows SOMETHING is up, Henry muses, `We'll cure the next one.' and gets a dreamy look on his face. Regina keeps refusing to eat and does so only when she is warned one last time by Mary to `EAT, DEAR!' The intimidating words drip with evil and have that club-in-the-closet tone to it.One last kudo for Linda. Watch her face when she runs up to the visiting sheriff (Michael Macready, the producer), who has arrived with siren howling and lights blazing. He is surrounded by the old couple and Baby Joe when she breaks in and starts babbling that `Something is going on here!' and mentions the missing girls. About then the sheriff looks at Evelyn and says `Hi grandma.' Linda's stunned look is priceless.You might conclude that I like this unappreciated little gem. The older actors were already well established and Arthur kept making movies until the 80s (he started in the 40s). I'm still doing the `Whatever happened to' routine on the others. Linda had parts in movies and TV shows up until the 80s but I can't find out what she's doing now. Linda, if you read this, I wish you well.Get ye a copy and watch some great entertainment. Dang! I think it's about time for yet another rerun!

This is an off-beat horror film produced by Michael Macready(he produced the two Count Yorga films) and directed by Bud Townsend. It stars Linda Gillen as a young college girl going off for a free vacation to an old-fashioned resort on the beach. It turns out to be not much of a resort with only two other attractive female guests(Pamela and Edwina), Baby John, Uncle Henry, and Aunt Evelyn. The owners, it seems, like to butcher the young girls for their food and prepare them in fantastic culinary dishes. Prior to each girl's departure(their supposed last night at the resort), Aunt Evie and Uncle Henry throw a party and a gourmet meal. Regina(Gillen) catches on and the film moves into some chase scenes and bizarre humour. I found this film to be very suspenseful, tense, and chilling. Many reviewers seem to label it as a comedy-horror film, but there really is not a whole lot of humour other than that of a very underlying subtle kind. The most haunting aspect of the film has to be the performances of Mary Jackson(of Walton's fame) and Arthur Space as the kindly-looking couple that run the inn. They really seem so very nice and normal in many regards, but there is always an underlying sense of something not quite right. This is first evident in a scene which has to be one of the most orgiastic food scenes ever filmed as all the guests and hosts eat a crowned rib roast on Regina's first night at the inn celebrating Pamela's departure. The way all of them attack the food with wild abandon and seem to be lost in pure ecstasy is amazing and horrifying at the same time. Another scene with the somewhat mentally-challenged Baby John catching a shark in the surf and then beating it against a rock is a well-shot scene. Still another wonderful scene is when Edwina's night has come and you see the three hotel folks, dressed in butcher smocks, travel upstairs as a lullaby plays. Quite effective and innovative camerawork here. The film is not particularly gory. It plays things pretty straight until the end, which is really not simpatico with the rest of the film. The end seems a bit rushed and forced, and there is even an attempt at some much broader comedy. It doesn't really work, yet the film as a whole is a very chilling...even disturbing about the nature of madness and trust.