Inn of the Frightened People, Perverts Judging Perverts

We've seen it before.  Schmucks with a fool-proof plan to pull off the perfect crime.  They may have logic and probability on their side, but as we know, chaos and Murphy's Law rear their ugly heads. If the perfect plan is intended to get away with torture and murder, the consequences of something going very wrong can be fatal.  Today we take a peek at a gritty Joan Collins film, 1971's "Inn of the Frightened People" (aka "Revenge").

After Jim (James Booth) and Carol's (Collins) little girl is abducted, raped. and murdered by a slimy pedophile, they have a hard time grieving.  Then, Jim and his son Lee (Tom Marshall) join forces with their friend Harry (Ray Barrett), who's daughter was also murdered by this fiend,  in a plot for revenge.  The police have released the killer, Seely (Kenneth Griffith) for lack of evidence, and our trio intend to grab him and torture a confession out of him.  What could go wrong? They do grab him in a very sloppy display of criminal activity and secure him in the basement of Jim's pub.  Soon Carol discovers the men in the pub's basement and has to be restrained.  Now what?  This is a good question which Jim, Lee, and Harry hadn't given much thought to.

After severe beatings, Seely is on the brink of death.  Uh oh, friction is in the ranks as Harry, Lee, and Jim disagree about what to do with their pervert.  Double uh oh...Lee and Carol, his stepmom, have a sexual relationship unbeknownst to Jim.  The plot gets more complicated when the police haul in another suspect for the murders of the girls. As the men come up with complicated and way-out ideas for what to do with Seely, doubt as to Seely's guilt starts playing on them.  As Carol's relationship with Lee explodes into the plot, and the police begin looking for the missing Seely, desperation guides our ill-equipped criminal enterprise.

Is Seely the murderer?  Will Jim find out about his wife and son's sexual betrayal?  Will Jim, Lee, and Harry's incompetence get anyone else killed?  This is a fast-paced murder mystery that will not make any feel-good film lists. Directed by Sidney Hayers, "Inn of the Frightened People" is a shocker with some stellar performances and dire warnings to good people who are thinking of becoming criminals.