The Innkeepers

After seeing brilliant "House of Devil" I decided to check out other movies of Ti West, who seems to be a very talented and promising film director. Even lots of negative reviews on IMDb did not dissuade me to watch this film. "Innkeeprers" turned out to be a very well made horror film which will be truly appreciated by more mature horror movie fans looking forward for suspense rather than lots of gore and high bodycount. Tension builds up slowly, gradually reaching the climax. Actors are doing a great job and director is a true master of the genre attempting to produce a small masterpiece in a minimalistic premise, only a few actors and almost no special effects. Watch this movie at night, alone, with lights off and I promise you that you are going to be scared.

If you consider this a Ti West film starring Sara Paxton, then it is merely a clinic on how to get the most (as a Director) from the least (minimal cast, set, SFX). And West does an impressive job of setting a mood and maintaining production quality. But It is still a so-so result. If however you consider this a Sara Paxton film directed by West, it will have a special appeal for her fans. Playing younger than her actual age at the time, with no makeup, she holds the attention. In many ways, one of her best roles.

I began watching this with a a sense of hesitation due to a couple of reviews which were very negative. In a way I can understand why some people might not like this. There are no great action scenes for starters, blood and gore is kept to the bare minimum and a lot of time is spent on building on the characters. If you are going to watch this, you really are just best watching it knowing the bare minimum of the film's storyline... i.e set in a hotel. I would go as far as to say the storyline is obscure and really does not impact on the film at all. For me, the acting was great. After the first half an hour of getting comfortable with the two main characters I found myself getting nervous for them until by the end of the film my heart was beating ten to the dozen, which is the aim of a good horror I feel. I waited for my wife to go to bed before putting this on. I watched it by myself around about midnight with the lighting on low and I have to say that had I got a pillow to hand, I would have been sitting behind it.

I don't usually write reviews but after watching this film and then looking at the latest reviews posted on here i felt compelled to give this a serious review.

If you like Slasher movies where girls who fall down a lot are being chased by a maniac with a weapon. THIS FILM IS NOT FOR YOU.

If you like Zombie movies with lots of blood and gore. THIS FILM IS NOT FOR YOU.

If you've got the attention span of a goldfish and like to chat to your mates all the way through a movie. (Guess What).

Right now the rantings out the way.

If you like sitting in a dark cinema/room, late at night with no distractions and you like ghost stories, then watch this film. I thought the acting, directing and sound score of this movie all worked really well and that with ghost stories less is more. The odd noise here and there, was that a ghost? or wasn't it? The uncertainty of whether this is real or not is what a ghost story should be all about, yes it's slow but that builds up the atmosphere, which i thought was great and there's some genuinely jumpy parts in the film. Sat here on my own in the dark watching this film had me gripped from start to finish. It's been a long time since i've seen a film this good and i recommend this to anyone who's into ghost stories.

Y'all's 5.5 review is out of line. If you have a short attention span and/or don't understand the disturbing subtlety of a perfect ghost story, you won't like this movie. Those of us that could listen "true" ghost stories all day will be completely spooked. This puts you right in the middle of one.

I actually really loved that we got to know the characters a bit more than a typical scary movie. I thought Paxton was charming.

Not a masterpiece or a perfect movie, but definitely one that will stick with me. I feel like it's a true testament to the subtle power of a ghost story. Watch it in October.