The Innkeepers, 2011.
Directed by Ti West.
Starring Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, Jake Ryan, Alison Bartlett, John Speredakos, and George Riddle.
SYNOPSIS:
During the final days of business for an old hotel, two employees decide to go ghost hunting.
For fans of what one may call ‘proper’ horror movies, director Ti West’s 2009 retro-shocker The House of the Devil was something of a revelation, coming as it did amongst a slew of gory torture porn titles. A slow-burner in the proper sense of the word, the film took inspiration from the best of classic Hammer by way of Rosemary’s Baby, The Amityville Horror and The Exorcist, and proved that gratuitous CGI gore, cheap jump scares and a faceless cast are no match for pacing, escalation, a knack for storytelling and stylistic flair. The Innkeepers was the director’s follow-up and saw him again digging into his box of tricks to try and make some genuine scares, albeit with a bit more of a playful vibe to it, and Second Sight have seen fit to give it a 4K UHD makeover, just as they did for his previous movie.
Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are employees at The Yankee Pedlar Hotel, which is closing down due to lack of business. Working during the hotel’s final weekend the pair are also investigating the alleged supernatural disturbances that occur on the premises, particularly that of Madeline O’Malley, a jilted bride who hung herself in the basement and whose body was hidden by the (then) hotel owners. Also staying in the hotel that weekend are former Hollywood actress Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), a mother and child escaping a failed marriage and a strange elderly man who had stayed there years before who insists on staying in the closed-down honeymoon suite.
During her shift covering reception, Claire takes a walk around the place and attempts to make contact with Madeline’s spirit. After getting unnerved she confides in Leanne, who may be the key to helping her unlock the secrets that the hotel holds, although when she and Luke start digging a little deeper they begin to wish they’d left well alone.
Owing quite a bit to Kubrick’s The Shining, The Innkeepers uses the sprawling hotel setting to great effect, using similar shots of the long empty corridors and vast reception area to create the feeling of isolation and despair that made that film so terrifying, and in the tradition of all the best ghost stories, it is what you don’t see that makes more of an impact than whatever the filmmakers choose to show. Sara Paxton and Pat Healy are both pretty solid in their respective roles, playing the pair of amateur ghost hunters with the right amount of slacker charm and naivety to make them believable in the modern context of internet entrepreneurs. Kelly McGillis plays the part of the heavy drinking former actress convincingly and lends The Innkeepers a sense of maturity, and the other supporting cast all play their parts with a similar amount of gravitas, some roles smaller than others but all memorable.
Much has been made over the years of the pacing as it really takes its time to build to anything resembling a proper scare, and that is a fair criticism as for the first 50-or-so minutes all you do is follow Claire and Luke around as they do their daily chores and deal with the awkward customers. However, the wait is worth it as when things start to happen we have already invested enough time in these characters to want to go with them on their journey of discovery.
The House of the Devil played out in a similar vein, albeit in a more controlled way, and that film’s late ’70s/early ’80s aesthetics certainly helped things along. That retro setting may be the one element that this film lacks, as modern audiences watching a ghost story in a contemporary setting may be expecting more from the narrative. That said, the result of all the waiting is well worth it once the pay-off is made clear and the secrets that the hotel holds are revealed. As previously stated, it is what is not shown onscreen that is most effective.
If you have been collecting these box sets from Second Sight then you will know the drill by now when it comes to content and presentation and The Innkeepers keeps the consistency going, coming as it does in a gorgeous rigid slipcase that also contains a 120-page booklet and art cards, plus cast and crew interviews that, given Ti West’s penchant for talking without taking a breath, might be best viewed in a couple of sessions. The movie itself has been restored by Second Sight, and whilst it won’t dazzle you with bright colours and slick motion tracking the level of detail is very high, and the blacks of the darker, shadowy scenes contrast nicely with skin tones and backgrounds without any noticeable crushing.
Overall, The Innkeepers isn’t quite as satisfying or terrifying as The House of the Devil, but maybe it isn’t really supposed to be as it does make certain demands of the audience that more mainstream filmgoers may not find to their liking, and it does leave you with more questions than answers. Certain characters don’t really have set arcs and their actions and motivations are never made fully clear, but having room for interpretation is one of the joys of storytelling so if you are willing to give yourself over to its mysteries and work through the long slog there are rewards to be had. Anyway, you wouldn’t want your limited edition box sets of The House of the Devil and The Sacrament to get lonely on your ever-expanding physical media shelf now, would you?
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
