The Innkeepers

Dir. Ti West

The setting of the haunted house is nothing new. The setting of the haunted hotel is also well-worn. The haunted hotel that employs a droll, hipster blogging duo, however, is a little less familiar. Such is the premise of Ti West’s (The House of the Devil) newest chiller, The Innkeepers.

Set in the all but vacant Yankee Pedlar Inn just a few short days before it is to be shut down, the only people in the hotel is the young, spunky Claire (Sarah Paxton) and her slacker coworker Luke (Pat Healy). The two are determined to find evidence of ghostly happenings while mysterious guests check in.

The Innkeepers is much like a ghost story told over a roaring fire in the woods. There’s a lot of spooky and build up. It’s all about how the story is told that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. What’s notable is that most of the movie has your typical jump scares, but they are pretty far between. Things happen just frequent enough to catch you off guard. The story mostly follows Claire as she wanders around the hotel interacting with the bizarre guests. It’s safe to say that very little happens in the first hour or so of the film. The deliberate pacing lets you know that something is coming, and when it does it’s going to be a doozy. What eventually comes is so fast and, admittedly, frightening, you’re barely left with any time to catch your breath.

Much has been said about Ti West’s low-tech approach to filmmaking. His previous film, The House of the Devil, was lauded as a return to the twitchy, suspenseful horror movies of the 60s and 70s. If that’s the case, then The Innkeepers owes a debt of gratitude to the 50s haunted house pictures from scholckmeisters William Castle and Vincent Price.

Paxton’s plays Claire with the right amount of spunk and naiveté of that 20-something sales associate that rolls her eyes at your every request. Ultimately, though, as we follow Claire around and as the horrors begin to increase in intensity, that sarcastic exterior sheds and the frightened little girl is exposed.

I often wonder if audiences will respond to character-driven movies. It may be my own skewed perception, but it seems like movies nowadays are geared to adult ADHD. I think with the success of the Paranormal Activity series (films in which nothing happens for broad swaths of time), people would be more inclined to give a movie like The Innkeepers a chance.

Grade: B+

Note: The Innkeepers is making it's theater debut February 3rd but has been available on iTunes since early January. That's how I saw the movie, my pre-screening privileges have not returned.