THE INNKEEPERS
Stars: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis | Written and Directed by Ti West
Oh, where to start with The Innkeepers! Let’s start at the beginning. That’s usually a good place to start, right? And in the beginning, there are Claire and Luke. They work the desk at The Yankee Pedlar Inn, a New England hotel that’s closing its doors for good. It also happens to be haunted. So Claire and Luke spend their time chatting, in that cosy comfortable way that only friends can. They drink beer. They hang out. And since they have very few of the hotel’s living residents to take care of, they try to capture evidence of the hotel’s supernatural residents instead.
It’s Claire and Luke, or to give them their real names Sara Paxton and Pat Healy, that make The Innkeepers what it is. It would be fair to say that within 15 minutes of the film’s first scene I was totally, mesmerizingly attached to Claire. She’s awkward, funny, drifting through her existence not really knowing what she wants to do, but knowing that what she’s doing is good enough for now. And Healy’s Luke is the perfect companion in that.
The Innkeepers takes its time, builds the relationship, builds the atmosphere of the hotel slowly, teasing us with little supernatural pokes here and there. It flows between the duo’s ghost hunting exploits and their friendship easily and confidently. This isn’t about cheap scares and things whoosing and swooshing past the camera. This is about planting the psychological seed of fear in your head and then letting it grow around characters you care about for 90 minutes. Once we’re comfortable with Luke and Claire, we’re introduced to Kelly McGillis’s character, a once famous television actress who’s now taken to giving psychic readings. Again, the interaction between McGillis and Paxton is a delight. Again, things aren’t rushed. Everything in good time.
There’s a very Jerry Goldsmith-esque score throughtout too, which sometimes reminded me of Poltergeist, although my memory of that may be somewhat distorted. Suffice it to say that this is a traditional sounding score, which just adds to the almost 80s vibe that director Ti West establishes. I should probably point out at this point that I’ve not seen any of West’s other work, so I can’t compare The Innkeepers with what’s gone before. It definitely feels a little unfair, lazy, or cheap to compare the film with The Shining, but it’s a ghost story set in a hotel so comparisons will be made. I will say this: I enjoyed this a lot more on first viewing than The Shining, but that’s likely due to the novel versus movie schism that’s been debated ad nauseum. I don’t really care what happens to anyone in The Shining. I really, really cared about this.
It’s also a film that lends itself to multiple interpretations, depending on what you read into it. It’s certainly one of the few films that actually left me thinking after the credits rolled, as we eagerly discussed our own take on the film’s conclusion. The bottom line is this: The Innkeepers is a beautiful piece of work thanks to the performance of its leading lady, its director, and its location – which is probably as much of a contributor to the tone, atmosphere, and success as everyone else involved.
The Innkeepers is HIGHLY recommended.
