Credit is due to The Innkeepers for its earnest low-budget attempt at a classic ghost story in the M.R. James tradition. Sadly, the result is wafer-thin, badly paced and tonally inconsistent, as it follows the shenanigans of two hotel clerks confronting the secret of their haunted inn.
This movie is a solid argument against directors writing their own scripts (unless you are, say, Wes Anderson, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Joss Whedon or someone on par with them): paucity of ideas and jarring attempts at humour undermine any tension; Ti West appears more comfortable behind the camera than typing a screenplay.
The Innkeepers is poorly structured. Most of its running length consists in cute, blue-eyed Sara Paxton pacing around the hotel and mugging for the camera. Slow build-up of tension is fine, but the story has to gather a certain momentum, which here is entirely lacking - and slapstick doesn't help.
4/10
This movie is a solid argument against directors writing their own scripts (unless you are, say, Wes Anderson, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Joss Whedon or someone on par with them): paucity of ideas and jarring attempts at humour undermine any tension; Ti West appears more comfortable behind the camera than typing a screenplay.
The Innkeepers is poorly structured. Most of its running length consists in cute, blue-eyed Sara Paxton pacing around the hotel and mugging for the camera. Slow build-up of tension is fine, but the story has to gather a certain momentum, which here is entirely lacking - and slapstick doesn't help.
4/10