Terror at Red Wolf Inn (1972)

College student Regina comes back to her room from class one day to discover she's won a getaway vacation at the quiet Red Wolf Inn. Before she can even call her parents to let them know ... See full summary »

Director:

Bud Townsend

Writer:

Allen Actor (screenplay) (as Allen J. Actor)

Stars:

Linda Gillen, John Neilson, Arthur Space

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Linda Gillen	...	Regina McKee (as Linda Gillin)
John Neilson	...	Baby John Smith (as John Nielson)
Arthur Space	...	Henry Smith
Mary Jackson	...	Evelyn Smith
Janet Wood	...	Pamela
Margaret Avery	...	Edwina (as Margret Avery)
Michael Macready	...	Jonathan the Deputy
Earl Parker	...	Paul the Pilot

Storyline

College student Regina comes back to her room from class one day to discover she's won a getaway vacation at the quiet Red Wolf Inn. Before she can even call her parents to let them know where she'll be, the lodge owners arrange her transport and she soon finds herself with two other young women as guests of a kindly old couple. The place is beautiful and the food is fantastic, but something just doesn't seem right. One of the guests has suddenly vanished, and the hosts are certainly reluctant to have anyone poking around the meat locker. Still, the barbecued ribs are delicious, so what's there to complain about?

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Plot Keywords:

college student | vacation | old couple | bikini | seashore | 

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Taglines:

What sinister secret is hidden by...?

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Secrets Beyond the Door

Filming Locations:

Piru Mansion - 829 & 837 Park Road, Piru, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Far West,Red Wolf Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 78 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three different locations were used for the titular inn.

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Goofs

There is a scene where Baby John goes into Regina's room and she's standing on a chair, removing a curtain rod that she wants to use as a weapon. We see her do this twice in rapid succession.

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Quotes

Evelyn: [discovering Archie, the dog, dead] Oh, you wicked, wicked girl!

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Crazy Credits

SPOILER: While the end credits are rolling the disembodied heads of Henry and Evelyn are shown in the icebox. After the credits end, the head of Henry opens its eyes and winks at the camera.

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Connections

Referenced in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

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Soundtracks

My Dream
Lyrics written & sung by Marilyn Lovell (as Marilynn Lovell)

User Reviews

Viewed as "Terror At Red Wolf Inn"

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"!