Terror at Red Wolf Inn

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.

The first time I saw ANY footage of this film was when I was looking through junk reels of 35mm film. There were only two reels of it, but I figured with a title like "Terror at Red Wolf Inn", it had to be worth sampling. At 40 minutes, the film ran out through the projector and I was hooked. It was almost an entire year before I tracked down a copy of this film on video.

This film has a great nutty charm that, if you're not careful, you may take too seriously. It involves a lonely girl who gets a letter saying she's won a vacation to the titular resort. All of the arrangements are laid out for her, down to a private plane to fly her there. Upon arriving, she meets the inhabitants of the Inn. There's an old couple, their semi-retarded grandson and two cute fellow guests. They're treated to three hearty squares a day and incredibly bizarre parties. The girls are encouraged to eat and eat, but they're not allowed to help serve the food or enter the always locked walk in cooler...

The film is a black comedy with a lot of style. It's extremely easy to see where the film is headed (I caught it in the first reel), but I don't think that's supposed to be an extremely clever plot twist, just a framework to let know-it-all horror fans revel in their superiority. Thing is, once the average horror film viewer thinks he/she knows what's coming, THAT'S when the rug is pulled out from under them. I could never quite guess exactly what was going to happen. The film alludes to things constantly while delivering plot points that don't turn out exactly as one may think they would.

The acting is great and the cast seems to be having a lot of fun in their roles, especially Linda Gillin, who nails her character fabulously as a lonely college girl eager to make friends and find romance.

The scenes to watch out for are the screamingly funny "shark" scene, the abduction of the character of Edwina, which uses a music box lullaby to an extremely creepy extent and the climax/punchline of the film, a denouement that, while totally implausible, is quite unexpected.

It's funny that no one talks about this film much considering how much "Motel Hell" has ripped it off. Worth finding and savoring.

Last note, take special attention to the end credits. They compliment the film to a "T"!

I saw Terror House as it's called when living in New Jersey in the early 1980's on television. For some reason television in New York and New Jersey as I saw back then was more liberal and showed much more gore and nudity unlike what I have experienced while living here in California. When I first saw this movie it was called Terror at Red Wolf Inn. Even though it was a horror movie laced with comedic touches I found it gross and unsettling at the time. There was a scene in the movie that no longer exists in present prints and I don't understand why it was cut as I realize the movie was re-rated from R to PG later. This was an innocent scenario where the girls were weighed in the kitchen on what appeared to be a meat scale by the owner of the resort to see how much weight each had gained from their gluttonous feasts at the hotel. Another scene now missing was when Margaret Avery's character 'Edwina' after being drugged is carried into the walk-in meat locker and placed on a butcher's table. That's as far as I go with that description. Arthur Space and Mary Jackson I had known before as veterans of movies and television. I now realize that the movie was much more violent than as shown now and would like to see the original uncensored or R-rated version. It is a forgotten 1970's camp classic and should be restored. Compared to today's movies it is much more subtle and disturbing.

terror house aka;terror at red wolf inn is a very strange black comedy about a college girl(Linda gillen)who gets a letter telling her she won a trip to red wolf inn.so she packs her bags and embarks on a little vacation at a country inn run by an elderly couple with a secret.the print i seen was rated pg most likely edited.but its still a gruesome little chiller and paved the way for Texas chainsaw massacre and last house on the left.the title red wolf inn made me think it was a British film,but its American and from the looks low budget,not a bad little film.i call it a gruesome comedy horror,the actress Linda gillen looks a lot like Allison Hannigan(American pie,Buffy the vampire slayer)6 out of 10.

Don't take this movie too seriously. Its funny, yet creepy! Its one of the 1970's horror flicks that ranks right up there with "Children Shouldn't play with dead things" as well as "Don't look in the Basement". However, this one has definitely more humor to it. I recommend it during a Halloween party to be shown, or just sit back and enjoy it! Its nice to let loose and laugh a little!! I don't think its available at stores yet, or even online. If you taped it years ago from WOR, you are in luck! The plot is simply that Regina "wins" a trip to an inn. But she never entered the contest! A seemingly nice old couple are really luring in young women to serve them up at dinner time! I guarantee that you will get ill just from all the food that is being passed around at the table!! Other movies like this are "Corruption" (Peter Cushing), and "The Baby" (Anjanette Comer). I believe "The Baby" is available to purchase. Check out other movies with Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee.