Review of Deadly Inn

Deadly Inn (2018 TV Movie)
6/10
"Mother Murderers No. 7"
30 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
In "Deadly Inn" (a.k.a., "Home Invaders"), one has to feel for poor Robyn Flynn. She adopted little Ava after the death of the girl's mother Tashi, who was Robyn's best friend. She has now moved to a rural part of Northern California, leaving behind a successful job in San Francisco. Robyn's single-minded purpose is to care for the little girl. But now, she is entering the twilight zone.

Robyn purchases an old Victorian manor, which she refurbishes into an attractive bed-and-breakfast that she calls the Lake Pines B & B. But her first customer is the deranged former resident Iris Janaway, who has come to reclaim both the home and the little girl she lost when, during a meltdown in an argument with her husband, she accidentally pushed down the stairs her little girl Sophia. In Iris's twisted mind, the dead Sophia has been transmogrified into Robyn's little girl Ava.

The film was largely unpleasant because Robyn was such a kind and caring soul that it was a wrenching experience to see everything in her world unravel due to the evil machinations of Iris, who checks into the B & B as the tenant named Beth Baronne. The only bright spot is when Robyn meets the local contractor Wayne "Drew" Aldrew, and the romantic sparks begin to fly.

But Beth murders one of the liveliest characters in the film, the character known as "The Professor," who is writing a story in his "Mother Murderers" series. This seventh story is the that of Iris Janaway whom the professor discovers is sharing space with him in the B & B. After Beth kills the professor, she skillfully pins the blame on Drew. The film moves to its nadir of unpleasantness when Beth kills the kind nurse and mother of two, Erica Berman. Mrs. Berman also takes a tumble down the stairs courtesy of Beth.

The filmmakers attempt to bleed irony as far as it will go when Beth herself topples down the stairs, receiving retributive justice when she is paralyzed. It is unfortunate that the unlucky professor did not live to see his dream fulfilled of having his hack story "Mother Murderers No. 7" reach its apogee in this made-for-television potboiler.
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