The Innkeepers Review

Hey folks!

It has finally happened! I am finally posting my first review!  I'm sorry about the delay in getting this out, and I promise not to go so long between reviews again! So let's get right to it....

The Innkeepers is about the final weekend of the haunted Yankee Pedlar Inn.  The two employees (innkeepers), Claire and Luke, are "paranormal investigators" (and I use that terms loosely) who hope to finally get proof of the hotel's haunted history before it closes down for good.  The hotel is supposedly haunted by the spirit of Madeline O'Malley, who hung herself after being stood up on her wedding day years before, or so the story goes.  An old actress turned psychic, Leanne Reace-Jones ("Lee"), comes to stay at the hotel and tries to help Claire.

Even though I find the plot lacking in places for this film, it is one of the few movies that will scare me every time, no matter how many times I've seen it.  I know what's going to happen, but I still get the urge to cover my eyes at certain points.  Overall, this is definitely a movie to watch if you want to be scared/creeped out.



~SPOILERS AHEAD~ So if you haven't seen the movie yet, GO WATCH IT, and then come back and let me know what you thought!

First off, the opening music is amazing.  It portrays the perfect creepy feeling that gets you ready to be scared.  Within the first few minutes, there is a great, yet ridiculous scare (the video Luke had Claire watch on his laptop).  Each time I've watched the film, this scene has made me jump.  Sure, I feel extremely stupid afterwards, but it gets me ready for what's about to happen later.  The movie starts with simple scares: the video, Luke startling Claire, the bird, but they get more and more intense as the movie progresses: Madeline in the bed, the old man, the entire basement scene.

One of the best scenes of the film is when drunk Claire and Luke go down to the basement for the first time.  Sitting on the floor trying to contact Madeline, they start to hear whispers.  When Claire's eyes get huge and she's explaining to Luke that she sees Madeline, you can see the terror in Luke's face.  What you don't see is always scarier than what you do.  Unfortunately, this is also the scene where you realize what a giant pansy Luke really is.  He's obviously in love with Claire, but when shit goes down, the first thing he does is cut and run.  I also don't understand why Luke shows basically no emotion after Claire dies.  Ultimately, I hated Luke.

I think this movie could have been so much better if there was more details into the hotel's history and/or Lee's visions.  The scene where Lee explains that there are three spirits in the hotel and what they want is "life" is amazing, but there is no follow through.  She tells Claire that there was a tragedy in the basement, but never explains what exactly happened or what she knows.  She says that there are three spirits (prior to the old man's death), but you only ever seen Madeline and the old man.  What happened to the other two?  Did she really know what was going to happen to Claire?

I do understand that it is possible Lee was seeing the future and the three spirits are Madeline, the old man, and Claire, the tragedy in the basement is Claire's death, and "they tried to warn her" was Lee warning Claire not to go into the basement.  If this is the case, why wouldn't she do more to save Claire.  As I explained earlier, Lee states that what the spirits want is "life".  However, the two spirits after Claire (Madeline and the old man) both committed suicide.  Is anyone else baffled by this?  How can they want life when they already took the life that they had.  I guess I just don't totally buy that these were "future" visions Lee was having.  I'm anxious to hear what everyone else thinks of this.

Speaking of the old man, he immediately increased the creepy factor of the entire movie tenfold as soon as he gets to the hotel.  I felt like there should be a connection between the old man and Madeline since they both "supposedly" died in the same room (you see Madeline hanging by a noose after Claire finds the old man in the bathtub), but there is not enough of a backstory to make that connection.  So even though I think the old man is a great addition to the movie, he really serves no purpose. 

Ultimately, I liked this movie.  I thought the fast paced close-ups, the music, and the acting (except for Luke after Claire dies) were exceptional.  I found that each time I watched the movie, I never focused on the holes in the plot until it was over.  It's a great movie if you just want to be scared/creeped out.  In the end, it's just a really good haunt house (technically hotel) movie.

I look forward to hearing what everyone else thinks about The Innkeepers!!