The Innkeepers
Dark Sky Films, 2011
101 minutes
Coming to DVD on Tuesday is this chilling tale of amateur ghost hunters, unprepared for an actual encounter with the spirit world. The Innkeepers, directed by Ti West, successfully balances suspense with story, never wasting a scene or missing an opportunity to set up a good scare. Claire (played by Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) work the desk of the Yankee Pedlar Inn during its last weekend of business, taking advantage of their free time to fire up paranormal equipment in search of the ghost of Madeline O’Malley. With the help of former television actress Leeanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGinnis), Claire makes contact with the spirit, quickly regretting it.
This ghost story is a wonderful throwback to the simpler times of horror movies, with a few cheap scares and jump scenes, solid writing and acting that keeps you riveted until the end (although the ending, admittedly, could have been better). This is the best haunted hotel story since Stanley Kubrick’s interpretation of Stephen King’s The Shining. Genre fans who are tired of remakes with no originality and gorefests with no plotlines, The Innkeepers could restore your faith in the future of horror.
Watch the trailer for The Innkeepers below:
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