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.

Crap of the highest order. I (thankfully) missed the beginning and end of this turkey. I could only endure about 15 minutes of it. It was shown recently on late night Australian television. I was watching a scene where someone got shot by the Kincaid (Alex Cord) character, and couldn't believe the atrocious dialogue, acting, and direction which was inherent. It didn't get better when I returned from another channel a few minutes later. There were some decent actors in it (Michael Craig, the late John Meillon), and I can only assume that Inn of The Damned goes MIA from their résumés. I'm giving this a score of one, and that's for the naked sheila.

The Syme home video publicity claims this film is in the tradition of a Hitchcock suspense thriller but it is played more as a spaghetti western with the typical opening hauntingly choral musical score, and sadly Terry Bourke's direction is not in the same league. The tale revolves around the mysterious vanishing of guests from a hostel deep in the Australian rain forests of Gippsland, Victoria in 1896, run by the Straulles, an Austrian couple. Unfortunately the owners of this wayside inn are simply not as sinisterly menacing as Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates in Hitchcock's classic, `Psycho'. Originally an outstanding stage actress, Dame Judith Anderson (Caroline Straulle, who is obviously fussy about the social standing of her guests/victims, bemusingly objecting to a whore) gave a more convincing performance as the chillingly malicious housekeeper Mrs Danvers in Hitchcock's 1940 version of Daphne Du Maurier's `Rebecca', for which she was deservedly nominated an Oscar. Her co-star (Joseph Furst) prior to this, seems to have made a career out of playing caricature mad Austrians, as in the Bond movie `Diamonds Are Forever'. There is an attempt at an ominous moodiness in the guesthouse but it is hardly developed to any great level and the various murders are weakly staged, accompanied by Bob Young's strangely clonkingly unsuspenseful music, which at other times can be jauntily, and even eerily, melodic. One wonders why the victims didn't just simply get out of bed rather than screaming hysterically whilst waiting to be crushed by the slowly descending canopy? At one point the more successful mixture of western and gothic horror in `The Beguiled', with Clint Eastwood, is hinted at when its sexual tensions are mirrored with the depiction of an illicit and exploitative relationship between a stepmother (Diana Dangerfield) and her younger charge (Carla Hoogeveen; `Class of ‘74').Why the Straulles sought revenge on their guests for the abduction of their two children a dozen years earlier by a ghoulish escaped convict, or why they believed the two pictures they kept locked in a room were really their `liebchen' is not satisfactorily explained. Nor is any reason given as to why disposing of the bodies in the well didn't contaminate the water supply and mercifully kill off the psychotic couple. The coachman, Biscayne (Robert Quilter), who brings unwitting visitors to the hostel, is wanted for murder and also happens to be a horse thief which provides the opportunity to follow a western style manhunt when he is pursued by an American bounty hunter and maverick, Cal Kincaid (Alex Cord). Real horror and terror are missing, leaving only puzzlement as to what else this could have been about, as it certainly failed me on the obvious levels. The actors have some poor lines to work with (after a botched murder attempt Lazar Straulle lamely utters `Die, die, why don't you die?') and they are challenged to do an adequate job, as we are to enjoy it, never finding our sympathies drawn for any of the characters. It maybe that the audiences of 1974 appreciated this style of film making more and its female nudity in particular, although the naked fruit feast scenes are laughable rather than erotic, but unfortunately my appetite for this morsel has been jaded by too many slicker Hollywood movies.Although the horror may not be pronounced, Brian Probyn's cinematography captures a certain malevolence as well as promoting the diversity of the region's arresting wilderness and lush rain forests, and his work can be further seen in `Far East', John Duigan's colourful remake of `Casablanca'. John Meillon as a bumbling petty thief also gives a brief taste of his future performance as Paul Hogan's amiable sidekick, Walter Reilly in the first two `Crocodile Dundee' movies.Whilst it is hard to recommend this feature for entertainment value alone it does have appeal for those with a curious interest in the history of Australian film making and its actors. I used the trackdown service from All About Movies for a secondhand copy of this video, although ScreenSound Australia also holds preservation material.

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.