Review: The Innkeepers (2012)

"Ti West gives us another great movie that leaves us unsure how to feel..."

The Yankee Peddlar Inn is closing. Sexy Claire & nerdy Luke are the lucky two selected to ride the desk for her final weekend... mainly because there's no one else to do it.

The ancient Inn is supposedly haunted, and as luck would have it, Luke is an aspiring Ghost Hunter (with his own website and all.) He has his trusty little ghost-busting equipment, and he and Claire are always on the lookout for signs of a haunting. He also has a haunted boner in his pants for Claire. That's actually a pretty important story element.

A couple of odd guests check in for the Hotel's final weekend, and strange things start to happen; pianos begin to play by themselves, whispers and strange static fill the air; Kelly McGillis drinks a few quarts of vodka; Luke repeatedly scares the living crap out of Claire, thus sealing his doom as far as ever getting any action from her goes... It's all a creepy nightmare!

Will the restless spirits of the fabled Inn ever rear their ugly heads? Will Luke ever get some of that hot, Claire lovin'? Will Kelly McGillis drink herself into a drunken stupor and die? Far be it from us to spoil anything for you here, but suffice it to say that nothing ends particularly well for any of them.

"Yeah, let's go down there, great idea."

Ti West has crafted another great movie with The Innkeepers. Like him and his films or not, the guy knows how to make an atmospheric movie. We had a a great time watching this one; several times throughout the movie we were both amused and creeped out, sometimes at the same time. The characters were very likable and we cared about their fates. We even cared about their interaction with each other.

***Skip this next SPOILERY section until after you've seen the movie. It's all conjecture anyhow, so don't spoil yourselves.***

With The Innkeepers, it almost seems like TI West made a movie about a persons impending doom. A giant tale of foreshadowing, if you will. Throughout the movie, Claire is warned off of things in a variety of ways; she's told not to go in the basement, told to keep thoughts of spirits out of her head lest they never leave, the ghost bride moaning what sounds like "run," the dead old man's ghost looked as if he were warning her, trying to stop her from doing something.... now we could be making all of this up in our heads, but the more that we think about it, the more it makes sense. All of this, mixed with her own sense of never having accomplished anything important with her life, and her need to solve they mysteries of the hotel and its ghosts before they shut it down for good, adds up to her doom, in our eyes. We think Ti West is sneaky like that.

***Alright, it's safe to read on now...***

Lazy ghost hunting.

At one point towards the end of the film, during a particular scene filled with rising tension, I said out loud "This movie has to start paying off, right now." That is essentially the main issue with The Innkeepers; it's a very slow and uneventful burn, filled with great visuals and likable characters, that never really goes much of anywhere. Horror-wise, that is.

Now don't take that to mean that the movie sucks, or doesn't deliver on anything, because it truly does. I hesitate to say that The Innkeepers is more of a Dark Comedy than anything else, because that will totally give the wrong impression to anyone who hasn't seen it, but it just might be. The movie is filled with genuine moments of levity and sweet humor that serves to illustrate the chemistry and relationship between the two leads... great, now it sounds like a romantic comedy. It's not. See what I mean, it's all a bit confusing.

That dead-eyed stare...

After everything that's happened, why would you go in the basement, you dumb, dumb, moron?

Then again, I wouldn't get into bed, either.

There's a scant tad of blood in the movie, but The Innkeepers is not about the kill scenes and blood flow.

Aside from a few quick shots of Sara Paxton in the shower from the shoulders up, then in a towel, and finally, in her panties, there's no naughtiness in this movie. Boo!

Oopsy!

The scene in which Sara Paxton decides to go to bed and finds out she isn't alone.

Ti West is one hell of a filmmaker. Also, stay out of the effing basement!

And the hallway. Stay out of the hallway too.

For being such a great film, Ti West's new venture is going to confound some fans, and downright lose others. The Horror is there, but it feels as if it wasn't the true point of the movie, which we suppose is all well and good, as we love good movies of all types. It's supposed to be a Haunted House flick though, and in the end it's kitschy characters and unrequited love that haunts this house more so than evil spirits. Good stuff, none the less. Definitely catch it when you're able to.

B

The Innkeepers is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD.

While adorable and innocent in The Innkeepers, let us not forget that Sara Paxton is in fact, quite a sassy little minx.