Directed by:
Ti WestScreenplay:
Ti WestCinematography:
Eliot RockettComposer:
Jeff GraceCast:
Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, Lena Dunham, Brenda Cooney, John Speredakos, Alison Bartlett, Jake RyanVOD (1)
Plots(1)
Two slacker employees who work the night desk of a historic inn set to close its doors are compelled to investigate its haunted past. The hundred year old hotel is said to be inhabited by the spirit of a jilted bride-to-be who suicided many years ago, a fact long kept secret by the owners who hid her remains in the basement to avoid scandal. One of the hand-full of remaining guests is a former actress and now spiritualist, whose presence is both reassuring and unsettling not unlike the spacious building's confines. Soon a series of unsettling events get everyone's attention before beliefs are shaken and the logic of remaining few begins to unravel. (Gryphon Entertainment)
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Reviews (2)
My cup of tea. Ti West dropped the distinctive look of the 70's and 80's from his previous, and excellent, film The House of the Devil, but The Innkeepers still feels like a manifestation from the "good old days". In a film made and performed with real panache, West sticks to the basic rules of the genre (that only apply to some people, which will result in different ratings) and what you fear the most is what remains unseen, and this is where this film differs from last year’s gem Insidious. West doesn’t show anything unnecessarily (most of the ghosts’ appearances can be seen in the trailer) and doesn’t explain anything unnecessarily, he simply builds a terrifying atmosphere, patiently and slowly (the slow and atmospheric wandering through an empty building can already be considered the director's trademark, the discipline where he’s the master). And that works on me, at least as effectively as the aggressive approach of James Wan in the aforementioned Insidious. And even though the film never strays from the category of “serious horror”, there are still plenty of scenes that made me laugh. They aren’t an attempt at “horror comedy”, though, it’s just that the characters (BTW, Sara Paxton is almost too likeable) sometimes behave funny (the scene with the garbage, for instance). I’m totally satisfied, and I can put The Innkeepers together with The Shining and Psycho among the TOP 3 hotel horror flicks. But not everyone will like it.
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Based on the reactions, I expected something truly groundbreaking, but it's just well-made with peculiar characters that will either captivate you or completely bore you. I was quite taken with the characters, but the film as a whole didn't entertain me that much. There were some good moments, but the originality of West's concept didn't sit well with me.
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Gallery (22)
Photo © Magnolia Pictures
![The Innkeepers - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/158/626/158626203_8a4fa9.jpg)
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