Review - The Innkeepers
Days are numbered for the Yankee Pedlar Inn, an old New England hotel with
the creepy tales of it being haunted.
Unfortunately, “The Innkeepers” starts strong, but finishes without delivering the expected scares.
Read review after the jump.
Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are the last remaining employees. Guests
of the hotel are few, so they spend their spare time hoping to document a
little bit of paranormal activity.
The starting tone of “The Innkeepers” is unexpectedly quirky, a fun workplace
that has a camaraderie and playfulness.
Paxton is somewhat charming, in that wrinkled-nose pixie kind of
way. Claire tries to keep herself awake on the night shift. We laugh while she
attempts to get a leaking trash bag into a dumpster. We follow her as she goes
room to room, recording what may or may not be there, listening intently to
silence, in stereo. She spooks herself out constantly and us along with her. To
be honest, most of us probably couldn’t walk around an empty hotel at night and
not freak out a little. Healy is believable as that minimum wage burn out we
have all worked with.
Director, Ti West, builds a lot of nice tension that doesn't go
anywhere. He does a great job of teasing the audience into thinking something frightening
is going to happen, then climaxing with a door shutting, or a noise.
The storyline is interesting, and it motivated me to finish the film. While
some people may accept the slow pace and quirky story progression, they won’t
stand for anything less than a massive shock factor after all that build-up.
Sadly, it will never come. This ghost story is as straightforward as they come.
Movie goers may crave more plot and back story clarity, but will not get it.
There are many things to enjoy about “Innkeepers”, but perhaps the best
thing going for it is that the Yankee Pedlar Inn is a real place. You can get a
room for as little as $79 a night. Try this: Watch the film then go ahead and
walk around there in the middle of the night. See how freaky that is.
All in all, “The Innkeepers” is an interesting ghost story with nothing memorable to take away but if you are in the mood for an good old fashioned ghost story, this may be just what you are looking for. The Innkeepers comes out April, 24th on DVD and Blu-Ray.
3 out of 5 Geegamons
