Ti West's THE INNKEEPERS (First Look At The Theatrical Poster)

[Paff]

Oh agreed, gore is cheap too. Anything that is used in place of real suspense, tension, or horror is cheap. Not that it should be avoided if the story calls for it (which I also dislike).

One of the things I liked most about House of the Devil was they way the tension just built without any jump scares. Like you kept expecting there to be one (it's such a horror movie cliche), and it never happened. That feeling of unease just went on and on. So I'm disappointed if Ti West has resorted to a cliche he's been able to avoid so well in the past. Of course, I'll reserve all judgement till I actually see the movie.

Bummer it won't be on HDNet though.

[Kim Bruun]

Originally Posted by Paff

One of the things I liked most about House of the Devil was they way the tension just built without any jump scares.

Yeah, but he attempts to sustain that tension for far too long - it fizzles badly and the movie never quite recovers. A jump scare, for instance, could have released the tension without having it simply vanish into thin air, and with the tension-o-meter restarted, he could once again start building suspense. I don't think there's anything wrong with a payoff, especially not in a movie like House of the Devil.

[BloodMan]

I've yet to be impressed by anything Ti West has done. This started out "feeling" fun but gets super dull and no pay off, nothing. Just fizzles out to "oh... ok"

[Anthropophagus]

Huge fan of The House of the Devil and its throwback to the seventies vibe, can't wait to see this.

[SaxCatz]

I had every intention of catching this during its pretheatrical run on Vudu HDX last week until I realized that it was a whopping $11.99. Now I guess I'll have to wait for the Blu-ray.

[Dobby]

Originally Posted by BloodMan

I've yet to be impressed by anything Ti West has done. This started out "feeling" fun but gets super dull and no pay off, nothing. Just fizzles out to "oh... ok"

Yeah those are pretty much my thoughts also. I think Ti West was worried about the torrents sites cause this movie sucked. Slowly but surely the word is spreading about this stinker. Then there is always those people who claim every stupid horror movie fucking rules. Blah I loved House Of The Devil but this, this was frizzle shit.

Originally Posted by Anthropophagus

Huge fan of The House of the Devil and its throwback to the seventies vibe, can't wait to see this.

Lower your expectations or you will be hugely disappointed. Those were my exact thoughts prior to seeing this. I think I was expecting way too much from The Innkeepers.

My Grade C- it's bad bad bad.

[_pi_]

I was very surprised I liked this as much as I did, considering my huge dislike of House of the Devil.

That said, it does share A LOT of the same problems: story threads introduced that ultimately lead nowhere. A lot of buildup to no payoff. An annoying lack of some sort of explanation/backstory to the mystery (not that I need an expository backstory in all my horror, but when you have an 'old haunted house mystery' as the basis of your story, I kind of expect it to actually go somewhere and get fleshed out).

I didn't think it was boring though. I think West's skills as a director have improved drastically. I may have been too harsh on his shot choices in House - with his budget and time schedule, I'm sure a lot of difficult compromises were made - but The Innkeepers felt very controlled to me, so good job on that.

What makes the film work are the great performances and characters. His actors really took their roles and ran with them. If it weren't for them, I probably would have clocked out a lot sooner.

So ... Basically, I think it's a big step in the right direction for West. It's not perfect, but it's not bad either. So yeah. That's about it.

[fattyjoe37]

Originally Posted by _pi_

I was very surprised I liked this as much as I did, considering my huge dislike of House of the Devil.

That said, it does share A LOT of the same problems: story threads introduced that ultimately lead nowhere. A lot of buildup to no payoff. An annoying lack of some sort of explanation/backstory to the mystery (not that I need an expository backstory in all my horror, but when you have an 'old haunted house mystery' as the basis of your story, I kind of expect it to actually go somewhere and get fleshed out).

I agree with a lot of the points here, although I didn't hate House of the Devil. That film ended up being more mediocre than anything else for me and although The Innkeepers isn't perfect, I enjoyed it a lot more. That had a lot to do with the characters and their banter. I have no problem with dialog heavy movies, so 2 people talking is more interesting for me than someone hanging out alone in a house for an hour. But as you mentioned above, the backstory payoff did leave a lot to be desired. Although I do have to say that I loved the ambiguity of the final act. All in all I'd say it's worth checking out if you're a West fan or if you thought House of the Devil had a lot of potential, but didn't quite deliver. I'm very interested in seeing what West does next since I think his writing and directing skills are improving with each film.

[satans-sadists]

DVD Talk review of the theatrical release: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/54448/innkeepers-the/

[satans-sadists]

Ti West talks slow horror & The Innkeepers: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/04/146343...the-innkeepers

[elDomenechHDG]

Coming to DVD & Blu-ray April 24th thru Dark Sky (source: Home Theater Forum).

[satans-sadists]

Blu-ray.com review: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-In.../37353/#Review

[satans-sadists]

DVD Talk review of the Blu-ray release: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/54333/innkeepers-the/

[Chomp]

I watched The Innkeepers BD the other night. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as House of the Devil, I still found it to be a pretty good flick. I found the slow burn suspense of the film to be perfect. I was into the movie from beginning to end. I don’t care what anyone else says, Ti West’s ability to build suspense is spot on, … almost in a Hitchcock meets James Bryan sort of style. Ha! It’s a feat that is accomplished few and far between within films these days.

Anyways, I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting with this film, but I think I was expecting some of the “scares” to pay off a little more. I mean the suspense was built up so well and when we finally catch shots or glimpses of Madeline O’Malley it was like someone let the air out of a balloon. She just wasn’t scary….at all. I found the old guy and the mysterious ex-actress much more compelling and creepy than the ghost itself. I kind of wish they would of omitted the “spirit” completely and focused much more on the ex-actress medium lady. Even the character of Luke became really sketchy towards the end which lent a real strange and mysterious vibe.

I also liked the fact that the actors were actual characters…not just cut and paste attractive people reading off cue cards. There was a believability factor there and that really goes a long way with me. Even the character of Claire, she was rather nerdy, probably a girl I wouldn’t look twice at, but as the movie went on, I actually found myself enjoying her screen time and even becoming somewhat attracted to her. That’s called character building people.

So yeah, good entertaining flick, I can’t see myself revisiting it anytime soon, but it was a neat little time killer.

[Workshed]

Sara Baxton carried this one--her scene at the dumpster was inspired. Shame everything else felt well-tread and stretched thin. The first scene in the basement was laughable: "Did you hear that?" "Did you feel that?" "I can hear her." Unfortunately, the audience isn't given anything to hear or feel in this scene; we have to rely on the actor to tell us what is going on. All tell. And what we were told is plenty that we've heard before.