The Innkeepers Movie Review 232

The Inkeepers is a 2011 horror movie written and directed by Ti West who also did The House of the Devil. It stars Sara Paxton, Pat Healy and Kelly McGillis.

The Yankee Pedlar Inn is an old hotel with a long history. It is finally closing its doors after the weekend.

Luke(Pat Healy) and Claire(Paxton) are staying there for the final weekend. They are investigating a supposed haunting in the hotel.Years ago, a woman called Madeline O' Malley hung herself in the hotel after being jilted by her fiancee  and the owners hid her body in the cellar because they didn't want bad publicity for their hotel but they had to close it after the locals found out. Luke has set up a website with videos of strange things happening in the hotel and he has a recorder set up to catch some paranormal activities happening. A woman called Lee(McGillis) comes to stay in the hotel and she is an actress who is now a healer. Claire is a big fan of hers and she tells Lee that she loved her work.

Luke and Claire search for some evidence of Madeline but they don't find much. Lee seems to be psychic and she can tell that there are spirits in the hotel. Claire hears music playing, but there is nobody playing the piano. She gets freaked out and tells Luke about it. She tells him about Lee being psychic and he thinks that it is a load of nonsense. An elderly man comes to stay at the hotel and he wants a specific room because it was his honeymoon suite. Claire shows him to his room and then she and Luke get drunk. They go down to the basement and Claire calls Madeline. She sees the dead woman and Luke freaks and runs out of the cellar.

Claire follows him and he tells her that he lied about seeing anything ghostly in the place. He wants nothing to do with it anymore. He leaves the hotel.

Claire goes to get Lee and they head to the basement where Lee gets very upset. She tells Claire they have  to get out of the hotel and when Claire gets her things, she remembers the old man. She goes up to his room but he has killed himself. She is shocked and she tries to find Lee. She hears someone calling her from the cellar so she goes to the top of the steps and calls Lee. She tumbles down the stairs when the old man appears behind her, dead and bloody. She hits her head and she wanders around the basement. She thinks that the old man is after her and she locks herself into the cellar. Out comes Madeline and the movie ends with Claire dead. How she died isn't explained but Luke tells the cops that he banged on the cellar door to get her out but she wouldn't let him in. The cops tell him that they need him at the station and Lee too. He goes back into the hotel to get Lee and they go off with the cops. The movie ends with a door slamming by itself in the hotel. Has Claire become one of the dead who roam the halls???

This was an interesting film. I liked what the director was trying to do, but it was a little slow and disappointing in the end. The ending of the movie was shabby and it was all just thrown together, I think. There were some good scary scenes with the ghosts  but there was too much talking in this film. If you are looking for a fast paced movie, this isn't it. I found it a little slow and that was its downfall. I didn't like the Kelly McGillis character much either. If you have seen the movie, let me know your thoughts on it. It was a good effort but ultimately, it was just not a great story. There was so much potential wasted here..It gets a 6/10.