Horror Movie Review: The Innkeepers (2011)

The Innkeepers is horror movie that written & directed by Ti West, releasing in 2011. The film follows two employees at the Yankee Pedlar Inn who, during its last weekend of operations, attempt to document the alleged supernatural activity in the building.

Claire and Luke are the only employees working at the once grand hotel in its final week of operation. Both are ghost hunting enthusiasts fascinated by the hotel’s “haunted” history. They were especially interested in Madeline O’Malley, a bride who hanged herself when abandoned at the altar, and whose body was hidden in the basement by the hotel owners.

Claire hears noises coming from the hotel’s garage, where there is a door leading to the basement. She padlocks the door and returns inside. She uses Luke’s ghost-hunting equipment to record EVPs in various places around the hotel. While recording, she hears faint voices and music, and sees the grand piano in the lobby play by itself.

Claire awakens to Madeline’s apparition in her room. Later, Luke and Claire investigate the basement. They encounter disembodied voices and other paranormal activity, which scares Luke into leaving the hotel.

What is going on? Check out The Innkeepers to find out.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the biggest crime any movie can commit is being boring. Give me B-movie cheese any day of the week compared to this monotony. The entire plot unfolds at a snail’s pace and it drags big time. Other than some pointless back and forth conversations between Luke and Claire, nothing of note happens. It’s rare in which I feel as if a film has wasted my time but that certainly applies here.

This is as bland as you can get when comparing The Innkeepers to other similar movies in the genre. Nothing it does is original or innovative, there are no twists and turns. The tension is lacklustre because the scares are so painfully predictable.

The acting is actually decent so credit to the actors because they were working with barebones stuff here. I just don’t understand the motivations of these characters at all. They’re seeking ghosts right? And yet they freak out when they encounter one? I’m not saying it wouldn’t be somewhat creepy but it isn’t like they get physically hurt in any way.

For the most part, this is a tame affair in terms of violent moments. However, there’s some surprisingly graphic gore near the end which didn’t work for me. The Innkeepers has a comedic vibe, at least to me it did. Personally, I thought there was a major clash between this and when the film attempts to be more “scary”, it just didn’t work.

Finally, the ending just caps it off in the worst way possible. There are certain aspects that don’t even make much sense and then it just….ends.

Overall, this is as barebones and basic as you can get when it comes to a ghost story. That tameness might work for some people but to me it just all felt so lacklustre.