Ti West's New Haunted House Movie - THE INNKEEPERS

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 12:45pm

I watched it this morning and really enjoyed it. After his HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, I became an instant fan of his and this is a pretty worthy followup to that. A couple of great scares and maybe the most suspenseful final minute to any movie I've seen in a reeeeeally long time. If you want a new haunted house movie that steers away from (some) cliches I'd suggest checking it out. Plus it's always great to see Kelly McGillis working!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 12:54pm

I was bored silly by House of the Devil, but I'll give this one a shot.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 1:48pm

House of the Devil definitely could have used some editing, particularly in the opening third. But Innkeepers is by far and away a better film.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 1:52pm

I'll agree with that. But I so so so admire DEVIL's nostalgic feel that I give a pass to it's problems.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 2:41pm

I HATED the ending of this movie much like I hated the end of House of the Devil. Ti West is great at crafting atmosphere and suspense...but I think he needs to stop writing. His scripts are always a let down.

[Actor2]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 2:50pm

I actually just met Ti West and an Innkeepers event in Torrington, CT where the film was shot. Cool guy.

[Actor2]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 2:51pm

Also shameless self promotion. Check out the trailer for a movie I worked on.
MIDNIGHT BREW Official Trailer

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 3:08pm

Erik, curious why you hated the ending of the movie.


****SPOILER****




The final shot of the film I thought was going to be a rip off of THE SHINING but when the camera turned to the doorway and just stayed there for maybe 20 seconds or so, I thought that was FANTASTIC filmmaking. I wish that instead of the door slamming shut it just would have cut to black after all that but man, I haven't been that scared just waiting for something to happen in a long time. It really got to me.

[broadway86]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 5:05pm

It's no patch on House of the Devil, which I consider to be a modern classic. But in spite of an ending that doesn't quite take off like it should, there is much to admire about it. Sara Paxton, in particular, is a standout, her and West together make long stretches of quiet as compelling as possible.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 5:12pm

Ti West is great at crafting atmosphere and suspense

Really? See, that was the problem I had with House of the Devil. I know he was going for 80s horror pastiche, but I couldn't think of a single 80s horror film that was so SLOW and so devoid of suspense. It was SO derivative, the element of surprise was completely gone for me. It just made me want to watch the films it was trying to emulate so I could actually have some fun.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 5:18pm

I thought he did a great job with the retro feel in House of the Devil, and the finale made good on all promises to scare the sh*t out of me.

The deliberate pace of the first hour or so left completely unprepared for the very brutal last act. I thought that was what he was going for actually.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 11:38pm

Really liked this one but then I saw Kill List which took over as my scariest recent film I saw (but I disliked its ending). I like that the ending had ambiguity and I thought the pace was fine for this film compared with The House of the Devil (which I liked but I understand why people who were not into the last act of that film felt a bit cheated). I thought the script and the acting actually had little nods to the complaints in The House of the Devil. Your bored? Well, the characters are bored too because their jobs suck! Definitely enjoyed Sara Paxton as Ti West's lead than Jocelin Donahue. But nothing measures up to Tom Noonan and having an actor credited as 'Random Guy'.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/6/12 at 11:41pm

I've never heard of this KILL LIST. it's really that good?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 3/7/12 at 2:36am

It's a British film that got a limited US release IIRC (because I caught a review in the Post trashing it, but it has otherwise gotten good reviews). Incredibly intense and brutal through the first two acts but then it gets derivative of the genre and the seriousness and mystery of the film just slags. It oddly has a resemblance to A Serbian Film but don't let that steer you away. It is never that vile and I write that also knowing that some scenes in Kill List are not for the faint of heart.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/7/12 at 6:15am

The critics in the UK loved it. I must say that I found it mediocre at best (definitely wait for the dvd Jordy) but the director is on my "one to watch" list.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/7/12 at 10:33am

The deliberate pace of the first hour or so left completely unprepared for the very brutal last act.

Really? I'm sort of surprised to hear that. I thought it was so cliche-ridden, I knew exactly what to expect. I was just frustrated that it took so LONG to get to anything interesting and when it finally did, it was paint-by-numbers schlock. Like a pad of horror b-flick Mad Libs where only the second half had been filled out.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/7/12 at 11:07am

Maybe I'm willing to give him a pass on some of the issues that have been pointed out in his films here here since he obviously seems to love horror and is the "anti-Eli Roth", taking the genre away from what it's turned into the past decade and trying to bring it back to actually trying to scare people.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/7/12 at 12:24pm

Let me rephrase Matt.

I knew exactly where it was heading plot-wise, hell the title kind of gives that away. What I meant was that I was lulled into thinking it was going to be more of a creepy/atmospheric payoff than a bloody/gory one.

So when the gore came the sudden shift in tone caught me off guard.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/7/12 at 12:46pm

Ah. Gotcha. I guess after reading so much positive buzz on the film, I was expecting it to be something far more than it was.