The Innkeepers (2011) Reviews

• Interesting Premise But Doesn't Deliver

  zzoaozz2012-01-02

  This movie had a lot of potential with an interesting hook and great location but failed to deliver all around. A horror movie relies on tension and atmosphere to build fear. This movie takes a very long and tedious time establishing characterization instead of mood. Unfortunately, the two main characters and in fact all the characters in the very small cast are so two-dimensional and stereotypical that all that time was thoroughly wasted. To add insult to injury, there is even a cheap jump scene at the beginning that breaks what little mood is established by the opening credits and pans of the set. When the movie finally reaches its climax, it still is not scary or horrific. It just falls flat. The ending was unsatisfying as well with no real resolution or twist. It's just good enough to keep you watching and waiting for something to happen, but it never does.

• Might've been good...

  callist2012-01-02

  If something had actually happened. for a movie of 1 hour and 35 minutes, there's surprisingly little in the way of story or plot. Now, at first I was actually excited, as I think most good horror movies are masters of building up the anticipation - 30 to 45 minutes of build up isn't inappropriate, but this movie felt like it was straight up 1 hours and 35 minutes of build up. It almost felt like they had too much time to show the characters (pranking and having fun with each other, mostly, which became old real quick) and their relationships and too little time to resolve the ghost plot. It had the makings of a (bit cliché, but hey) storyline that, with careful execution, could have made for a nice horror flick with more subtle horror compared to all the splatters that are out these days. Instead, we got almost nothing. This movie left me with so many questions and just kind of a "huh?" feeling - I like when everything isn't answered or when things aren't stated directly on screen - when you have to think a little bit - but this is seriously taking it way, way, WAY too far. Instead of feeling like the movie set up some expectations and rules and then satisfied these, it just felt... Inadequate. Very, very inadequate. And confused, and kinda hollow. Terrible disappointment.

• So Boring

  lizmari-221-8206442014-08-31

  This movie is less scary than an episode of Scooby Doo. The story is very boring. The characters are bland. The acting is wooden. There is no build-up of tension. It's very hard to believe that the story fails so completely to be scary. Old buildings by their very nature are creepy, but this hotel is less creepy than the office I work in. The dialogue isn't engaging in the least and since the movie is more dialogue than action, that's a big problem. All the "scares" are stuffed into the last few minutes of the movie. If I hadn't seen the trailer I would have thought there was no ghost in this movie, but it did pop up at the last second. Basically, if you've seen the trailer, you don't need to see the movie.

• The Innkeepers

  godallmightybrownie2012-01-05

  I don't usually write reviews but after watching this film and then looking at the latest reviews posted on here i felt compelled to give this a serious review. If you like Slasher movies where girls who fall down a lot are being chased by a maniac with a weapon. THIS FILM IS NOT FOR YOU. If you like Zombie movies with lots of blood and gore. THIS FILM IS NOT FOR YOU. If you've got the attention span of a goldfish and like to chat to your mates all the way through a movie. (Guess What). Right now the rantings out the way. If you like sitting in a dark cinema/room, late at night with no distractions and you like ghost stories, then watch this film. I thought the acting, directing and sound score of this movie all worked really well and that with ghost stories less is more. The odd noise here and there, was that a ghost? or wasn't it? The uncertainty of whether this is real or not is what a ghost story should be all about, yes it's slow but that builds up the atmosphere, which i thought was great and there's some genuinely jumpy parts in the film. Sat here on my own in the dark watching this film had me gripped from start to finish. It's been a long time since i've seen a film this good and i recommend this to anyone who's into ghost stories.

• A waste of time

  stevesilvester2012-04-17

  Total nonsense. Weak plot, bad acting. The movie is just an empty box,somebody forgot to fill it. Acting is at amateurs level, except for Kelly McGillis of course. I'm an horror movies addicted, so i've watched this movie just to add another notch on my belt, but really it was no fun and not scary at all. At the end of the movie the girl goes looking for Lee down the basement, and this is so unreal. They were packing their stuff before leaving and the girl thinks Lee was going to play hide and seek? C'mon, that tells me a lack of ideas on how ending the movie and not just that...