FrightFest 2011 Review: THE INNKEEPERS

By Shaun Munro / August 29, 2011

rating: 2.5

Ti West made quite the name for himself last year with the release of his agreeably old-school slow-burn horror film House of the Devil. Here he shoots for the same sort of tone and style again - albeit with a much more modern setting - with The Innkeepers, a Shining-esque tale which is unquestionably directed with wonderful visual flair and blessed with a witty script. However, for all of that style, it's also crushingly low on scares and is therefore hard to recommend as the hybrid of old horror tropes and modern comic wit that it clearly wants to be. The Yankee Pedlar is an ancient hotel which, after 100 years in operation, is finally closing its doors due to flailing business. The two remaining employees, Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy), are charged with presiding over the establishment's final hours, and in their boredom - given they have just a few guests checking in and out - decide to become amateur ghostbusters and investigate whether the rumours about the Pedlar being haunted are true. Mysterious guests such as a washed-up old author-turned-mystic (Kelly McGillis) and an old man wishing to relieve memories of his honeymoon at the hotel soon show up, while the legend of a woman trapped in the basement peaks the kids' interest. As they investigate, some creepy goings-on start to take place, and the question arises - are these phenomena the real deal, or just workplace-related boredom taking advantage of a creepy, dingy old hotel? The Innkeepers is nothing if not a genuine attempt to crafted an intelligent horror film with likeable characters and a keen visual sensibility. A methodical, intentionally slow-building horror much like West's previous film, there is an admirable concern for character over consequence here, as the hip, slacker-style banter allows us to get to know the young protagonists, and this dominates much of the film's first half. Enhanced greatly by good performances from Paxton and Healy, as well as believable chemistry between them, early on the film manages to coast on this frisson though ultimately doesn't know when to start ramping up the scares and suffers as a result. The problem simply is that it's just not very scary, and while House of the Devil similarly kept the viewer on the hook with the slow burn for almost an hour, it paid off with an intense, viscerally satisfying climax, which is more than can be said for this one even if the end is relatively unexpected and pleasantly ambiguous. In a post-film Q&A, West said there was a deliberate intention to keep the comic and horror elements mostly separate in the film's later stages, but the incredible campness - and therefore unintentional hilarity - of the antagonist makes this nigh-on impossible. While West has latched an intense, old-school score onto his vibrant visual style, it's still not enough to heighten some decidedly tired thrills which derive from the films of old without really bringing much of West's usually switched-on personality with them. West's latest feature is well-directed and funny, but low on scares and quite camp, presumably unintentionally so.