Horror Off-Season: The Innkeepers

Sunday became a bit of a Ti West-fest.  After watching the nicely creepy House of the Devil, I just had to check out writer/director Ti West's follow up: The Innkeepers.

In contrast to House of the Devil, this movie is set in modern day at a Connecticut inn called the Yankee Pedlar.  Interestingly, this inn actually exists and the movie was even shot there...though how much varies depending on where you read.  The inn's site obviously claims the whole movie was shot there.  This is also the 2nd film he's shot (maybe set?) in Connecticut, so there might be a Stephen King/Maine style relationship developing between the New England state and Ti. (Update:  I just watched an interview with Ti West, apparently the crew stayed at the Yankee Pedlar during the filming of House of the Devil, and weird things kept happening at the hotel but he didn't have the idea to make the movie until a year later.  Interesting connection between the two movies.)

The story here is that the Yankee Pedlar is closing (it really isn't, feel free to visit), and the two remaining staff members, Claire and Luke, are keeping up a largely empty inn.  Outside of their rooms, there are only two rooms occupied at any given time.  To entertain themselves in the off time, the two innkeepers are performing a live-in paranormal investigation to uncover the inn's haunted past.  Specifically to confirm the haunting of the inn by a tragic widow named Madeline O'Malley who hung herself in the inn.

A lot of the movie is really just the two of them bantering and doing EVP sessions in various places during the night.  The movie really takes its time getting into things, spending a lot of time just watching the characters' daily lives...guests checking in, forgetting towels, fangasming at a famous actress, being creeped out by an oversharing barista, etc.  I really liked this, partly because I was expecting something to happen and when it never did, I started getting nervous.  Also partly because it was entertaining.  I liked watching the characters interact and actually got a feeling for them outside of the context of the movie.  It was really good that they didn't take everything deadly serious, and neither did the movie.  They felt real, which made it even better when the creepy stuff started to happen.

I really loved the way they approached the creepy things, because it was very suspenseful and discomforting.  You spent a lot of the movie tensely waiting for something to happen, and when something did happen it didn't jump out at you and then cut quickly because it wasn't actually something scary, it was presented slowly and deliberately.  You could see the thing coming into frame and KNEW that once you saw it, you'll wish you hadn't...but you just keep looking.

The ending sprint is a great, panicked payoff after the setup and development.

This whole movie was really well put together, it had some very funny bits and the characters were great.  The horror elements were carefully placed, but the build up and atmosphere made them super effective.  I'm definitely on the look out for more Ti West.

--PXA

Horror Off-Season: The House of the Devil

The House of the Devil is a 2009 thriller written and directed by Ti West, starring Jocelin Donahue and Tom Noonan.  The story is set in the early 80's, and feels like it could easily have been filmed then.  Ti uses a lot of 80's techniques, and even shoots on 16mm film.  This sort of dedication really makes the movie.  When I first started watching it, I told people it was really good at being set in the 80s.  A Haunting In Connecticutt is one of my favorite movies, but it's terrible at being set in the 80s.  It felt so modern I just didn't get that it was supposed to be set in a different decade.

Between this movie, The Innkeepers(2011), and being on the horror anthology v/h/s Ti West has really been making a name for himself that is surprisingly unmarred by having directed Cabin Fever 2.  And he deserves it, man makes a mighty fine movie.  And this is his IMDB picture.

Where do I sign up to have Buckaroo Bonzai direct my movie?

The House of the Devil's premise is a pretty uninteresting throw back to the haunted house/slasher movies it's trying to emulate.  Our main character is Samantha, a "nice" college girl who's trying to find her own apartment because her roommate gets too much late-night nookie.  To pay for her new apartment she takes a babysitting job being advertised by flyer on campus.  The call is decidedly shady, but she takes the job any way.  Even after meeting the person placing the ad and having him explain in the creepiest way possible that everything he said about the job until now was a lie.

The house is creepy, all the characters except Samantha and her roommate are pretty creepy.  It's a little cheesy, almost, but still very creepy.

The movie builds nicely and then goes totally sideways with a great Satanic twist.  There's nothing really remarkable about the ending, but it is gripping to watch.  There's a lot that reminds me of Rosemary's Baby and When a Stranger Calls.  The ending would be completely ineffective, and downright silly, without the great buildup and characterization from the rest of the movie.

It definitely moves slow, which lends to some of the early atmosphere building feeling like it's laid on too thick, but it pays off because it involves you in the story.  This was a really nice throw back to early 80s movies, but with better quality and more interesting pacing.  I thought this was a great movie, but it could definitely come off as too slow or too dull or too weird to some audiances.

If you like the old school, or really appreciate a good creepy slow burn without a lot of jump scares or gore, this is worth checking out.

--PXA