Apparently I was a little late to this party. I decided to rent The Innkeepers from Redbox which seemed like it would be easy since there are a billion Redbox machines everywhere. But The Innkeepers has been out for a little while and it was kind of hard to find. I finally just reserved it online so it would actually be there when I went to pick up. Seriously, I tried 4 different times before I finally got it!

Interesting story, right?

Anyways, Ti West’s The Innkeepers. Let’s talk about that.

So I mentioned the other day that I watched his pretty widely praised House of the Devil as part of my 31 Days of Horror in October. Most of the people I know who saw that one really liked it but while I appreciated a lot of the details, it wasn’t my favorite. I do love a good slow burn of a horror story, but that one was so slow I found my attention drifting about half way through.

But I liked what Ti West was doing and I liked a lot of the movie, if not all of it. So when I heard about The Innkeepers I was happy to check it out. I mean, I love ghost stories.

And I have to say, he keeps the slow burn going but it works sooooo much better here. I never found myself bored and I definitely found myself creeped out. It’s not the scariest movie ever but what it lacks in scares and gore, it makes up for in really likeable characters, some good laughs, and a great location.

Honestly, I don’t even need a lot of gore to enjoy a movie. Gore can be fun, but yeah. What I really love is a movie with good atmosphere and Ti West sure does know how to create that. I love the camera work, the use of long hallways and tight corners to really up the tension, and a few clever Boo moments. I also love how aware of the genre these movies are. It’s sometimes hard to figure out if they’re following the rules or just making fun of the conventions. And sometimes it’s pretty obvious that they’re making fun. I dig that.

The Innkeepers turned out to be a really fun, clever little ghost story that was well worth the four, or five, Redbox trips. Check it out.