Inn of the Damned

I first saw 'Inn of the Damned' years ago then caught it again recently and I'm pleased to report having only grown more fond of this quirky Australian western-horror, a highly original one-of-a-kind tale featuring a cast so talented and diverse it simply can't miss.

Director Bourke seizes the opportunity to spend an ample budget (a record at the time in Oz) on building an elaborate mystery, the characters afforded more depth than usual, in particular Cord's likeable Dirty Harry-esque bushranger hunter who becomes suspicious of the old Inn after a disappearance. Dame Judith Anderson and Joseph Furst are both first-rate as the reclusive inn-keepers guarding a harrowing secret, and there's even space for both John Meillon and Michael Craig in the deeper-than-expected casting.

It's essentially a horror movie set in 1890s outback, so whilst there's horse chases, stagecoaches and spurs in abundance, it's still a bona fide thriller delivering well-timed shocks and some ghastly make-up effects.

Initially I felt the film was perhaps 20 mins longer than needed, but I came to appreciate the character backstories including those of the victims, a diverse assortment of eccentric lodgers each bringing their own sordid situations into the orbit of the senile serial killers.

Special mentions also go to local stage actor & playwright Robert Quilter as the despicable vagrant-criminal Biscayne, and then the Diana Dangerfield (Brisbane-based theatre actress & playwright)/ Carla Hoogeveen (also seen in Bourke's earlier anthology 'Night of Fear') lesbian love triangle is a detour you won't soon forget, the pair given more screen-time than expected in the somewhat shoehorned sub-plot, delivering decent performances that rise above the salaciousness.

Overall I can understand the criticisms at the film's perceived padding, but realistically there's plenty of blood-letting at regular intervals and if you invest in the characters, there's a tense, sombre tone and a particularly unsettling climax to make the wait worthwhile. Odd but effective western-styled Ozploitation thriller.

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.

I enjoyed the movie itself.Good original but sad story. Touched a not very exposed taboo.That is Female molestation of younger teenage girls briefly. The sound quality and lighting is not the best.Time for a remake in the digital era.

I really don't know what to think about this very strange western from the Aussie land. Very strange, very difficult to analyze, to have an opinion. But it's no crap, no, in any way, just an unpredictable and unusual feature, that's all. You have horror elements in this movie from the mid seventies; very daring for this period. It was not Robert Rodriguez's period yet and the Grindhouse mode was not sent to Australia either. But this film doesn't beyond to the Grindhouse, no. It's really something very weird, not for all audiences, for sure. Most of them will run away from it or stop after a couple of reels. No it's worth trying this movie.

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!