Two minimum-wage twenty-somethings – wannabe ghost-spotters in their spare time – attempt to capture the alleged ghostly goings-on of a soon-to-be-closed New England hotel, The Yankee Pedlar Inn. Director Ti West’s impressively understated film is bolstered by a great lead performance, an awesome original score and a genuine sense of creepiness throughout.
Never one to turn down the chance to watch an indie horror, I often find myself disappointed in what the genre as a whole has to offer. That said, the era of popularized “torture porn” seems to be slowly ebbing away – thankfully – and good old-fashioned creepy ghost stories seem to be back in fashion: take the hugely successful British hit The Woman in Black, for example. After hearing some positive web buzz about it, I was happy to find Ti West’s low-budget 2011 film The Innkeepers due to be released on blu-ray this past Monday. The film exceeded expectations across the board, and would seem to herald the arrival of an original new voice in a dilapidated genre.
Director and writer Ti West’s modus operandi seems to that of taking worn-out concepts and reviving them with a retro twist, as evidenced in his previous work The House of the Devil (2009), and The Innkeepers is similar in this regard. The faded, 90s look of the film is in perfect harmony to Jeff Grace’s shrill musical composition – somewhat reminiscient of bothGhostbusters (1986) and The Shining (1980), the latter in particular evoked several times – a gift, perhaps, for those horror aficionados paying closer attention. The adorable Claire (Sara Paxton) leads the films cast, a somewhat geeky heroine who is easy to like and relate to, with her ever-so-slightly naive but lovable persona lending real gravitas to the films ability to shock; we can only sympathize with Claire and the increasingly-stressful situations she finds herself in, a put-upon minimum wage hotel employee finding herself increasingly hassled by the guests, the ghosts, even the annoying girl in the coffee-shop. At the heart of the movie is a sense of leading curiosity and most of all a sense of humour – quietly confident in itself and its ability to scare at will. Ti West gets the best out of the small cast and dictates the pace of the film with aplomb, keeping you waiting for every jump, often agonizingly so.
The Innkeepers is both entertaining and different and a lot of fun. It’s smart, character-centric horror, a treat for those who have ever searched for “scary videos” on google looking for a late night scare, or stayed up past midnight with the lights off for tales of the paranormal; short on gore, perhaps, but effective, funny, atmospheric and unashamedly individual. I hope for more of the same from West and company in future releases.
Deryn O’Sullivan (@silverscene_)
Deryn Paul O'Sullivan 