The Yankee Pedlar, a real-life and supposedly haunted hotel in Connecticut (go check out its Wikipedia page!), is about to shut down for the Winter. Just two employees remain to take care of things at the end of the season, both of whom are young, feckless, and interested in the paranormal. So, as movie characters are wont to do, they go about stirring up the hotel’s paranormal forces in the hope of capturing some sensational footage or audio.
The Innkeepers was Ti West’s followup to 2009’s House of the Devil (if you don’t count Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, and West himself doesn’t), and in structure and tone, it feels very much of a piece with it, also looking forward to his later, highly successful X. Like those pictures, we get a slow, character-driven buildup, anchored by an exceptionally strong performance from the lead actress. Like those films, it is atmosphere and love of filmmaking craft that is prioritised over scares, and like those films, the “horror” part of the movie is all squeezed in to the final act. Both of those films use period settings, and while The Innkeepers uses a present-day setting, the Colonial hotel and the old-school nature of the ghost story told here nonetheless gives it the feel of a film out of time. Most of all, West’s love of creating characters comes over very plainly. “I think 85% of directing is casting anyway,” Ti West tells us on one of the commentaries included here, and that belief is apparent across his oeuvre; while the small cast of principals – innkeepers Claire and Luke, and washed-up actress Leanne, played by Kelly McGillis – are brilliantly fleshed-out characters, Claire in particular, they would be nothing without the performances that give them so much animation.
Ultimately, it is these superb performances, if anything, that are worth returning to The Innkeepers for. While a nice atmosphere is created, with clear invocations of The Shining in its hotel-closing-for-Winter premise, The Innkeepers finally finds itself without anywhere particularly interesting to go by its final act. There’s a feeling that perhaps the film came about simply by reading up on The Pedlar, gathering a solid cast and crew, and spending a weekend or two having a blast shooting. And that sense of fun and friendship certainly comes across; it isn’t quite enough to allow The Innkeepers to transcend its down-home, ghost-story roots, but it’s still a showcase of everything West does well and a signpost towards the heights West’s X/Pearl/MaXXXine trilogy.
Perhaps influenced by the success of that trilogy, Second Sight has been rereleasing the director’s back catalogue, including The Sacrament last year and The House of the Devil earlier this year – though it may be best not to hold your breath for Cabin Fever 2. We get, as usual, a fairly thorough set of extras, including two commentaries. The first features half of the film’s small crew: West, producer/horror mainstay Larry Fessenden, producer Peter Phok, and sound designer Graham Reznick. This same nucleus provided commentary for the previous two Second Sight/Ti West releases also, and the air of easy camaraderie is apparent. The second commentary features West with his two leads, “The Innkeepers themselves”, Sara Paxton and Pat Healy. There are also a series of interviews; “A Lasting Memory” is a short but fairly detailed Ti West interview, in which he discusses in particular the casting process which is, after all, 85% of his directing style. “Let’s Make This Good” features laid-back Pat Healy, who’s had an enviable career with bit parts in Spielberg, Scorsese, a Marvel film, and so on. Larry Fessenden, highly recognisable to horror fans, speaks amiably on various topics in “Our Dysfunctional World”. Cinematographer Eliot Rockett speaks relatively briefly in “Living in the Process”, while composer Jeff Grace speaks in some detail in “Cast a Wide Net”. We even get to hear from line producer Jacob Jaffke in “A Validating Moment” – how many film releases offer an interview with a line producer? Finally, the set’s rounded off by a seven-minute archival making-of and a trailer.
The Innkeepers isn’t quite Ti West’s finest hour, but it’s another showcase of the filmmaker’s craft and his knack for characterisation, and is another welcome Second Sight rerelease – let’s hope for In a Valley of Violence next.