**1/2 out of ****

Spill Rating: HIGH RENTAL!

Good

-Stand Out Performance From Sara Paxton

-Great Build Up

-Ti West's Direction

Bad

- The God-Awful Ending!

Ugly

-People Who Say That The Innkeepers > Kill List

Director Ti West burst onto the scene in 2009 with The House of the Devil, an eerie and tense throwback to slow-paced 70's horror. Rightfully regarded as one of the best horror of the decade, West was immediately listed as one of the horror directed to watch.

His sophomore effort, The Innkeepers, has slowly been picking up steam over multiple festival showings. The overall consensus in both the critic and horror communities has been pretty much unanimous in complete love with the film. If they meant the first 2/3 of the film, I would completely agree. However, The Innkeepers squanders it's tense build-up for one of the most anti-climatic and asinine endings in history.

The Innkeepers doesn't stray too far from the haunted house/hotel genre but its just a little bit different to stand out. Working the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn before it closes down permanently, two employees (Sara Paxton and Pat Healy) are determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past. They begin to experience disturbing events as old guests return.

Much like The House of the Devil, a somewhat familiar story is given new life due to the great direction of Ti West, who knows how to create compelling characters, catchy dialogue, and build suspense to near unbearable levels. When the film is merely hinting at the sinister history behind the hotel, you can't help but feel a tingle in the back of your neck. Since there are very few jump scares, you are genuinely on your seat waiting for shit to hit the fan. 

The whole reason the film is as tense as it is is due to the lead performances by Sara Paxton and Pat Healy, who both utilize West's catchy dialogue to the upmost degree. For once in a horror film, I actually cared about the leads and wanted them to get out safely. It's a shame that the ending betrays what worked so well for the first 2/3.

The ending to The Innkeepers relates to my visit to Old Faithful. Having never witnessed this "wounder" of nature first hand, I was ecstatic to experience it. After what seemed like hours of waiting, it all culminated in..........a huge anticlimax. After the last sprout of water shot up, the only thing I could say was "That's it?"

When the credits rolled for the film, I could only think the same thing. Seriously, that was IT!? The entire film built up the mysterious nature of the hotel, it's current residents, and Sara Paxton's connection to the ghosts but ended up leaving every single question unanswered. Even the film's epilogue failed to answer even the most basic questions. I am completely perplexed by this because of the excellent writing and directing preceding it. It would have been more satisfying to find out that Casper was the cause behind everything.

The Innkeepers begins great and slowly gets better and better until......nothing. Even though I loved so much of the movie, I can't honestly recommend it since the ending is so piss poor. "No Country For Old Men syndrome" strikes again!