Terror at Red Wolf Inn 1972

Regina, Linda Gillen, is a lonely young college student with spring break approaching and little money or plans to speak of. A mysterious letter promises a free seaside getaway at a charming, if remote, bed-and-breakfast called the Red Wolf Inn. When she calls the number on the letter, she’s told a private plane will be waiting for her at the airport, and soon she’s whisked away to a rural outpost. A handsome yet oddly guarded young man named Baby John Smith, John Neilson, meets her and whisks her into a thrill ride: they speed through the town, dodging the police, and Regina discovers she’s more energized by the chase than frightened by it.

Arriving at the grand mansion, she’s welcomed by Henry Smith, Arthur Space, and Evelyn Smith, Mary Jackson, the elderly proprietors who insist they are Baby John’s grandparents. Two other guests are already there, Pamela, Janet Wood, and Edwina, Margaret Avery. Regina asks to use the phone to call home, but the line is out of order. The group sits down to an extravagant, almost ceremonial dinner, and Evelyn steers the conversation toward eating more and more, a hint of something indulgent and unsettling simmering beneath the surface.

That night, Regina heads to the kitchen to search for antacid. Her fear spikes when Baby John suddenly emerges from the walk-in refrigerator, brandishing a large knife. Her scream erupts through the house, waking everyone, and Baby John quickly apologizes for the scare. Later, Edwina confides to Regina that she can sense an attraction between Regina and Baby John, and Regina admits the truth of their connection.

The following day, Edwina and Regina discover that Pamela has vanished. Regina spots a carriage house behind the mansion where Pamela’s stylish black dress hangs, and she also finds a framed photo of the pilot who flew her to this secluded destination. Regina and Baby John share a flirtatious moment on the beach, their exchanges tinged with a childlike playfulness. During one moment, Baby John reels in a shark, grabs its tail, and bashes it against a piece of driftwood with a strange ferocity. After this bizarre display, he tells Regina, > I think I love you. <

That night, a party is held to celebrate Edwina’s supposed “last night,” since she’s leaving the next day. After another enormous dinner, the two elderly hosts abduct Edwina and kill and dismember her, an act the guests barely comprehend as it unfolds around them.

The next day, Regina is alarmed when Evelyn tells her Edwina left without saying goodbye. Regina tries to call her mother again, but Evelyn severs the connection. A police car pulls up outside, but the officer is another grandson of the Smiths, confirming Regina’s worst fear: she has become a prisoner. Baby John is placed in charge of her, while the Smiths go into town, and Regina seizes the chance to explore the forbidden refrigerator.

Inside, she discovers the severed heads of Edwina and Pamela. Realizing the Smiths are cannibals, Regina understands she has effectively been eating human flesh for two days. She bolts from the house with Baby John in pursuit, but Evelyn and Henry return from their errand, and Regina is forced back toward danger.

Back at the table that night, the Smiths study Regina quietly, testing whether she would truly be able to join their clan as a mate for Baby John by forcing her to eat human meat. Regina cannot bring herself to eat and erupts in disgust, fleeing the table while Baby John pleads, crushed, “No!!”

After dinner, Baby John helps Regina attempt an escape. They sneak toward a car, but Henry has removed the spark plugs. They release their dog, which corners them in the greenhouse; Baby John tries to shield Regina, but the couple is overwhelmed when the dog is slain with a shovel. Evelyn uses the dead animal’s body as a distraction, weeping over it as Henry closes in with a large cleaver. Regina screams in a panic, and blood splatters onto a nearby plant as the danger closes in.

In a final, haunting sequence, Baby John sits at the Inn’s kitchen table, playing with a toy truck while someone softly sings a song Evelyn used to sing. It becomes clear that Regina is the singer—now alone in the kitchen—preparing cookies for Baby John. In the freezer, Evelyn and Henry’s severed heads lie stashed away, and Regina appears to have stepped into the role of the inn’s new chef, a haunting twist that leaves the audience with a chilling sense of how far the cycle of manipulation and fear has stretched within the walls of the Red Wolf Inn.