Few horror fans can pass on a good ghost story. Haunted houses, cars, people, pets, inhabit campfire tales throughout history and span every culture. It's safe to say that people love a good ghost story.
For a long time it seemed like psychological horror -- in the misguided tradition of "science replaces God" -- had replaced the classic ghost story. In a lot of ways, it still seems that way. Ghosts in movies and books are almost always projections of the protagonist's guilty conscience. But every once in a while Hollywood releases a movie that pulls no punches, and makes no apologies for believing in the supernatural. These films tell us ghosts exists, that the things going bump in the night are not just in our imaginations.
The Innkeepers does its part in keeping the oh-so cherished traditional ghost story alive. It tells the story of two hotel employees -- Claire and Luke -- who moonlight as paranormal investigators. The hotel is about to close, and is now mostly deserted, leaving the pair with one final weekend to find evidence of the supernatural.
The movie does a lot of things right. It keeps it simple and it takes its time. There's no rush for scares, so the first quarter of the film is spent introducing us to the protagonists and pumping up the tension. Sara Paxton plays the role of Claire brilliantly -- it's easy to find her charming (in a dorky sort of way) and extremely relatable. That isn't to say she or any of the other characters are not without their quirks, resulting in some genuinely hilarious scenes. Anyway, in the beginning, things are relatively mundane. Nothing to see here, folks.
The real trouble begins when Claire -- spooked by an earlier event -- asks for help from a psychic ("healer") who is staying as a guest at the hotel. (Yes, heads up, there is a little mumbo-jumbo in the film. Nothing overtly offensive, but if you're uber-conservative that might be important for you to know.) And as we all well know, you never get a psychic involved in a ghost story, crap always hits the fan when some creepy old lady starts chatting up the spirits. (I can only assume that ghosts are extremely introverted and would prefer to be left alone) Suddenly the supernatural activity -- and the suspense -- crank up a level.
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| I shouldn't have to tell you this is probably a bad idea |
The film isn't without its flaws, however. It's a little too simplistic, and folks seeking something extremely original will be forced to look elsewhere. Beyond that, there are some questions that seem to go unanswered -- the movie makes one particularly intriguing promise that it never fulfills. The worst part is that while the tension is well drawn, when things finally do go south, it seems to happen too quickly. The horror seems to be over before it begins. And the final scene leaves us wanting. . .
Overall The InnKeepers is a fun, sometimes funny, and delightfully creepy movie that I'm glad I watched.
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| Overall Score: 3 out of 5 |
