Review of The Innkeepers (2011) by James T — 29 Jul 2012

Writer/director/editor Ti West's last effort house of the devil was a rewarding attempt to homage and deconstruct the horror films of yesteryear. He boldly built up the tension using slow, careful pressure before the big ending.

Whether you liked the closure or not, it is still more impressive then what's on display here. However the film starts off with promise, real characters who slack around and pretend to be minor league ghost hunters as the boredom of running an inn over it's last weekend becomes almost unbearable.

Like them you need patience, except for a fun little shock six minutes in around forty minutes passes by before anything goes bump. While West is obviously a craftsman of high degree who knows how to work the camera to it's spookiest advantage he fumbles the story and the action at the exact moment both elements should hit the ground running.

Apart from a reasonably well played shock involving a sinister old gentleman there is no particular payoff. It is fine and should be commended when a director uses the slowburn instead of the boring in your face gore, and West has got talent.

But a lot of people are going to be pissed off when they wait an hour and a half for something awesome to take place and it is over within ten minutes. I am sure there is a disquieting message hidden within this film, but like it's other buried secrets, it just isn't given a chance for impact.