The Innkeepers – (Screamfest) Review
Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are two desk clerks at the spooky Yankee Pedlar Hotel, a mammoth New England inn. They deal with their boredom by searching rooms for any sign of the afterlife, as these two ghost hunters use electronic voice phenomena equipment looking for paranormal activity, and get more than they bargained for when they make contact with the restless spirit of a newlywed who hung herself on her honeymoon. Her body was kept in the basement by the inn’s press-shy owners and she occasionally makes a frightening appearance, and when she does, those scenes turns out to be the best scares in the film. A few guests come and go, but much screen time is given to Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), an actress turned eccentric spiritualist who has seen better days. All three are in mortal danger as the resident spirit of legendary Madeline O’ Malley rears her ugly head and the haunted history of this house of horrors is unfurled.
As with The House of the Devil, Ti West’s previous film, this is an exercise in slow burn filmmaking that gives more screen time to the characters than the spooks. It’s a minimalist approach that concentrates on fleshing out actors and making us care for them before dropping the hammer and slamming us with the frights. I didn’t connect with the asthma-suffering Claire and the Simon Pegg lookalike Luke one bit. There is some funny banter between the two and some snappy dialogue, but I felt like I was watching an episode of Seinfeld. What did you do today? I went next door and got coffee. That’s an episode! I am going to go upstairs and go to sleep while you watch the front desk. That’s an episode! I am going down the the basement to look for a ghost. That’s an episode! Ironically, the movie is broken up into separate chapters.
The formula and tropes of haunted house films that are far superior are distributed throughout. Stephen King’s The Shining and 1408 are two of the better movies of this sub-genre and should have been watched before writing such limp drivel. What made both of those work so well is they swung back and forth like a pendulum between the dramatic stuff and the fear factor so you were always off-kilter and didn’t know what was around the corner. Other than a few jolt alarms, you practically have to wait until the final reel to get butterflies in your stomach, and sadly, the epilogue is anticlimactic and unfinished.
The Innkeepers has its heart in the right place as it is going for the vintage, old school approach of 70′s cinema, but at the end of the day, what you get is a fabulous poster for a mediocre motion picture.
Rating: 
Jason Bene
I'm just an average man/ With an average life/ I work from nine to five/ Hey, hell, I pay the price/ All I want is to be left alone/ In my average home/ But why do I always feel/ Like I'm in the twilight zone
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- Official poster for the Ti West film The Innkeepers | KillerFilm - [...] this is still better than the average artwork most studios release. You can review my review (here) from the ...
- Official trailer for The Innkeepers | KillerFilm - [...] 28, 2011 in News | 0 comments Here is the trailer for the new Ti West ...
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Hi Jason, I enjoy your site but have to disagree with your review.
I saw the movie premiere last night at Screamfest and found it to be an utterly engaging psychological thriller that pays respects to classic ghost movies while poking fun at the over-used tropes that more recent films in this sub-genre lean on like a crutch (jump scares, spooky music, etc.). I characterize this movie as a psychological thriller because (without giving too much away) the director makes the true scares in this film arise from what is unseen and unheard by the audience, rather than what the main character perceives to be happening around her (although her perceptions of the spirits are indeed terrifying too).
I also thought it was a nice allegory for the current economic climate. While the question of whether ghosts exist is left ambiguous, the director makes clear that each character is still haunted by their own poor economic situation: Low-paying wages (the Innkeepers), lack of work (the alcoholic former actress turned psychic), stress/homelessness (the mom) and depression (the “final guest”). In effect the audience understands that regardless of whether ghosts are real, the Inn itself truly is a “haunted” place.
I’m a little confused by your review when you call it “an exercise in slow burn filmmaking” and note that it concentrates on fleshing out the characters to make us care for them. I don’t consider these bad things at all. In fact, I wish more horror movies treated their stories with such subtlety and care, otherwise we’re going to end up with more Shark Night 3Ds and Halloween rip-offs.
To me it sounds like you were expecting something other than what the movie delivered, or perhaps the film didn’t speak to your subjective tastes in the same way it did to mine. That’s perfectly understandable, but I don’t think that this should be a reason to characterize such a tight and “snappy” script as “limp drivel.” This isn’t an action/adventure flick, nor a scare-a-minute-thon. It’s not a blood and guts gorefest nor a schlocky b-monster movie. It’s a thought provoking, spooky thriller that left me with an unnerving sense of dread once the final credits rolled.
I guess if you like your movies to move at a fast speed, and want to have your scares in a wham-bam-thankyoumam fashion, you might want to skip this one. But if you’re like me, and appreciate something that is a little funny, a little unnerving, and a lot thoughtful — then I’d definitely recommend your readers check it out!
(P.S. If anyone is into horror comics, feel free to check out my website at http://www.sexandmonsters.com)
The movie was underwhelming and there was no payoff. Just saying.
Will, thank you for your thoughts on the film. I’m a fan of West’s previous films and am looking forward to checking this one out.
On another note, I really dig your comics. Keep up the good work.