However, just occasionally, there is a direct-to-DVD release that leaves you wondering, why couldn't I see this in cinemas on the big screen? The Innkeepers left me thinking exactly that.
This is the third big release from Director/Writer, Ti West, behind the brilliant slow-burner, The House of the Devil and the shlocky, but fun Cabin Fever 2.
This time around, The Innkeepers follows two minimum wage hotel slackers, Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) who are working the last weekend at the Yankee Pedlar Inn before it closes for good. As the last few guests check in for the weekend, including the old actress, Leanne Reese-Jones (Kelly McGillis), an angry Mother (Alison Bartlett) and her young son (Jake Ryan) and a mysterious old man (George Riddle), the two slackers begin to hear strange things going on in the haunted hotel and decide to investigate themselves. Is the old tale of Madeline O'Malley (Brenda Cooney) really true?!
To get this review started, I have to say that if you are a fan of West's previous film, The House of the Devil, then you should love this one too. The two films follow the same basic formula - the protagonists spend the majority of the first and second act of the film exploring the creepy/haunted environment before the big pay-off at the end in the third act. The only main differences this time round being that The Innkeepers drops the 1970s style filming gimmick of The House of the Devil and also manages to pack in a few more scares/creepy moments.
I can understand what the majority of people's problem with this film will be... "Nothing happens!!" But the beauty of The Innkeepers lies within West's filming style and the time dedicated for us getting to know the two characters.
Firstly, the film is packed with beautiful long tracking shots down the hallways and creepy basements of the Yankee Pedlar Inn, largely reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's style for The Shining. Also, I have to praise the fact that West is never afraid to ratchet up the tension and focus on the build-up to the scare, rather than the fright of the scare itself. I liked the way that the film first started with one of the characters watching on of those internet screamer videos (you know the ones, where you stare long and hard at an empty room, before a gross face jumps up at the screen and it screams with the volume cranked up to maximum.) It's almost like West was saying, "This is what you are used to, but we're not going there!"
Secondly, the two main characters is where The Innkeepers really shines. We get to know the pair inside out - we understand Claire's scepticism around the hauntings of the Inn, we see Luke's commitment to getting his website up and running (about the haunted Inn) and finally, we see the little games they've devised that really show how long they've worked together (running up and trying to hit the help bell on the desk before the other can stop them.) It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's what a lot of good horror films are missing recently - it seems that they are so preoccupied with getting to the scares (and by scares, I mean jump scares rather than actual tension) that they can't stop and think about their characters for one moment.
Now, unfortunately The Innkeepers is not perfect, but it's only a minor gripe, and that is the development of the ghosts at the Inn and some of the secondary characters.
The legend of Madeline O'Malley - the bride, who was stood up on her wedding day, who then killed herself in the honeymoon suite at the Inn - seemed to be a bit underdeveloped. We are never truly told why she is still haunting the hallways of the Inn or what she really wants. The creepy old man who checks in late and demands a room on the third floor, seemed to be built up without any real pay-off as to who he was or why he acts the way he does (I don't want to give too much away here!) Or the Mother and her young son didn't really add much to the story at all, they were just there.
I just think that if the film spent half as much time developing the ghosts and the stories behind the Inn than it did to the two main characters, then it would have been perfect (and I don't say that to many films!)
So, if you like your horror films subtle, slow-burning, filled with tension and brilliantly developed characters, then The Innkeepers is definitely for you. However, if you are into being shocked every 10 seconds by a horror film, then go and stick on The Grudge or something else instead.
**** / *****
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