|
When is a horror film not a horror film? Essentially, that’s the question when writing a review for writer/director Ti West’s latest release, The Innkeepers. Like Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining before it, The Innkeepers manages to rise above its genre and prove that horror can and should do more for its audience than what is allowed to pass through the money-grubbing gates of Hollywood.
Previously, West proved himself a promising new talent with 2009’s House of the Devil and he continues in an upward trajectory with his latest offering. West isn’t concerned so much with scaring the crap out of his audience, what he does with The Innkeepers; however, is unleash a damn good story with very believable characters. Antiquated, I know, but it works.
Set in a small town in Connecticut, The Innkeepers focuses its lens on being a young modern adult stuck inside the apathy of a dead-end job. Is there anything more terrifying that that? Well, yes, there is and two bored desk clerks, Claire and Luke (Sara Paxton and Pat Healy), are about to find out. Trapped working the final weekend of the Yankee Pedlar hotel, the two pass the time with casual flirtatious behavior, witty banter, and a general lack of concern toward their job.
The hotel is old and almost empty; floors are stripped and most guests are only permitted to stay on the second floor. Not there are a lot of visitors. Even rumors of the Yankee Pedlar’s tepid haunting can attract visitors. In fact, there are a total of three guests a woman angry at her husband, a lonely old man, and an actress-turned-energy-reader (Kelly McGillis from Top Gun), yet somehow – whether by accident or by fate – all visitors find themselves effected by the final weekend of business.
No, there are no cheap thrills here. The Innkeepers builds its scares without jumps or bumps or thumps. No zombies here either. West’s tightly spun script goes for the genre’s deeper levels; the psychological and develops its powers within the anxiety of assumptions. Paxton and Healy are actors skilled at making us believe in the everyday. I know these people; they are easily relatable and tenfold the amount of suspense with their small talk and interactions with guests.
At once, there is classic feel to The Innkeepers. West’s camera is aware of its hotel corners and corridors and slowly pans with eeriness akin only to Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining. Clearly, such a statement means there is nothing amateurish about West’s work. Three films in (with one – Cabin Fever 2 – being renounced by him) and it’s confirmed; he’s a solid talent in a business hurting for fresh voices.
Unsettling and darkly twisted like a root, The Innkeepers and its ghost bride happenings will keep your claustrophobic anticipation locked in the basement. There is no escape.
MPAA Rating: R for some bloody images and language.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
