The Innkeepers

Today's film was Ti West's The Innkeepers. My first introduction to West was his film House of the Devil (which I watched in a previous October Horror Binge), a slow-burning film that I absolutely loved. The Innkeepers is a slow-burning story as well centered around a couple of young hotel employees trying to catch footage of a ghost haunting the small hotel. 

Like House of the Devil, West makes you wait for around 3/4s of the film for any of the big scares. This technique of horror filmmaking is, in many ways,  like walking a tight rope--and a technique that, when done right, is probably one of my horror favorites. Making the audience wait for something explosive and satisfying at the close of the movie can make the journey to get there seem all the better. However, if the ending doesn't stand up sturdily against the wait it pretty much ruins the journey to get there. Unfortunately, The Innkeepers is by and large the latter. I loved the build waiting to see how West would close out the film, but was only rewarded with a stereotypical ending that was too little, too typical. West obviously has a lot of talent as a filmmaker, but I think in trying to replicate the formula of House of the Devil he shot himself in the foot and came out with a film that wasn't fully realized through a good ending. Not a bad film but one that in the end disappoints. 

6.5/10