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.