Inn of the Damned
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTerry Bourke
Written byTerry Bourke
Produced byTerry Bourke
Rod Hay
StarringJudith Anderson
Alex Cord
Michael Craig
Joseph Furst
Tony Bonner
CinematographyBrian Probyn
Edited byRod Hay
Music byBob Young
Production
company
Terryrod Productions
Distributed byRoadshow Entertainment
Release date
13 November 1975 (Australia)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetAU$417,000[1]
Box officeAU$178,000 (Australia)[2]

Inn of the Damned is a 1975 Australian western horror film, directed by Terry Bourke. It has been called Australia's first "horror Western".[3]

Plot

In 1896, a crazed woman and her husband run an inn in eastern Victoria and take revenge for the deaths of their children years before. Cal Kincaid, an American bounty hunter, arrives to investigate recent murders and puts an end to the killing.

Cast

Production

Like Bourke's previous feature, Night of Fear, the film was originally a one-hour script intended for a projected TV series, Fright.

It was filmed in the Mangrove Mountain region of the NSW Central Coast and at Artransa Studios in Sydney. Filming began in November 1973 and took nine weeks but the film was not released until late in 1975. Shooting was marred by disputes between the producers and its principal investor, Australian Film Development Corporation.[4] At the time it was the most expensive local film made in Australia.[1]

Release

Critical reception

AllMovie called it "more odd than good", and "best viewed as a curiosity."[5] DVD Verdict wrote, "as curiosities go, this Australian horror western (?) from the early '70s definitely deserves some attention."[6]

Home video

The film was released on DVD alongside 1972 Australian horror film Night of Fear (also directed by Bourke) by Umbrella Entertainment on 16 March 2005.[7] This combo was re-released for Blu-ray on 09 November 2022 as volume 20 of Umbrella's Ozploitation collection.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p263
  2. ^ Australian Films at the Box Office - Report to Film Victoria Archived 9 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 5 October 2012
  3. ^ Vagg, Stephen (24 July 2019). "50 Meat Pie Westerns". Filmink.
  4. ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 295
  5. ^ Guarisco, Donald. "Inn of the Damned (1974) - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  6. ^ Gibron, Bill (1 May 2009). "DVD Verdict Review - The Drive-In Cheezy Movie Collection". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Umbrella Entertainment - INN OF THE DAMNED/NIGHT OF FEAR (Double Feature)". umbrellaent.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Night Of Fear + Inn Of The Damned (Ozploitation #20) (Blu-Ray) (1973 + 1975)". Umbrella Entertainment. Retrieved 8 December 2022. Release Date: 09 Nov 2022

External links

Films directed by Terry Bourke
Categories