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February 10, 2012

At the Movies: 'Innkeepers' is a good, old-fashioned ghost story

By CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Movie Critic

The trappings may look familiar, but “The Innkeepers” is a new twist on the good, old-fashioned ghost story: It's the bored-slacker horror movie.

The Innkeepers

Director: Lena Dunham

Cast: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis

Rating: R

Running time: 100 minutes

Writer-director-editor Ti West sets his film at the historic Yankee Pedlar Inn (and shot it at the real hotel in Torrington, Conn., which was built in 1891), which, for our purposes, has a history of hauntings and is on the verge of closing. West takes his time and doesn't seem interested in cheap, loud, quick shocks; the approach pays off and generates real tension. It's so low-key, it may actually be too languid in parts, but it's hard not to admire this rare sort of patience, as well as an interest in creating characters who feel like real human beings.


 
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