The Innkeepers Movie Review

Article by FisterRoboto of lefthandhorror.com

Written & Directed by Ti West

During the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel’s haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay.

This is why I love horror. Ti West doesn’t want you to just watch The Innkeepers, he wants you to experience it. If you enjoyed his 2009 film, The House of the Devil, this film offers more of his trademark enthusiasm for making great throwback horror films. West understands that horror is a genre overflowing with bland, trendy horror flicks and he wants nothing to do with it. West relies on the foundations of horror. You can see the pride he put into this film. It is terrifying at moments.

Sara Paxton and Pat Healy star as Claire and Luke, ordinary co-workers who are left to run things at The Yankee Pedlar, a reportedly haunted hotel with a history with a hundred year run. Claire assists Luke with his ghost hunting at the hotel, each employee working in shifts with an EVP recorder to hopefully catch something concrete that will draw some attention to Luke’s fledgling website. Of course they do eventually find something.

Once Claire does find something, the film goes to dark places. If you have patience, you’ll undoubtedly like this film. You’ll probably be surprised with the ending too. Overall, I can’t recommend this one enough. I found myself wondering why I had gravitated to Claire and Luke so strongly. Not only do we identify with these totally ordinary characters, we are them. The relationship between the viewer and the film shares a hard to find synchronicity that is a welcome surprise. If I did graded ratings, this would be an A+. The Innkeepers is available on OnDemand for a short time before it’s theatrical release on 2/3/20012.