The Innkeepers

[lynn]

Saw this nice little supernatural horror film this week. I thought it was a really good, solid effort. It didn't bring anything new to the table... but I don't see why it would need to. People are always trying to do something new and different these days, but this was just trying to be a good, old-fashioned ghost story, and on that level it worked really well. It's one of those slow burn ones, as you'd expect from an old fashioned ghosty business, but I found the characters fun enough to keep me going through the first half and interesting enough to care about what happens to them in the end. The ghosts/gore factor is minimal, but used to good effect. They're well done ghosts but sort of in that are they scary or just sad kind of way, I wasn't really sure in the end. One thing I really did appreciate was when they busted out the ghost they didn't do that big angry chord of music to jump scare us, so I could appreciate the character reactions and the moment better. I really liked the lead girl, they say in the commentary she can't scream and there's one moment that she really does a great "muppet scream" as they call it, where she kinda flips her head back and shouts rather than opening her mouth. It's actually a charming and funny movie as well, in the first part, and could have easily become a sweet little rom com if there hadn't been the ghosts and stuff.
I think it's well worth a watch if you like supernatural horror or haunted house type movies.
I will note that they do chuck in a shower scene with no boobs and a lead character wandering around in panties for no reason (twice actually) but they play for laughs so it works out. Not satirically like Cabin in the Woods, just in a more human fashion than the usual horror movie.

[drivebyluna]

I enjoyed the relationship between the girl and her coworker.

[lynn]

I like the scene where they're drunk and he's trying to tell her how much he likes her and she's just not hearing it. Real life tragedy. I enjoyed their easy relationship, they're just playing games and things. Makes it feel more real, more grounded.

[Gilberto]

This has been in my queue a while, so maybe I should actually watch it before I end up dropping Netflix.

[Scary Gary]

It is a good one. This is the second one by Ti West that I really liked (The first being The House of the Devil). One of his earlier films (The Roost) was shot a few miles from where I live. It wasn't as good, but it was very low budget. The best part of it was Tom Noonan playing the part of an old fashioned horror host.

Back to the Innkeepers, this is the second old school, slow burn film that West has directed. With each film, he is gaining more notoriety. I really hope he can get a few more of these out before he gets too big for horror.