"The Innkeepers" is an American horror/mystery drama from 2011, so already over 5 years old, and this one was written and directed by Ti West. I think this was already his fifth career effort at that point in terms of full feature films alone and as he was only 30 around that time, it is pretty impressive and prolific I'd say. And his experience shows. I was lucky enough to watch this 100-minute movie again about a week ago on the big screen and I am really glad I took the chance. Horror is a genre I am not always too big on, but this little gem worked well for me on almost every level. Lead actress Sara Paxton is a revelation really (not only physically and i am saying this as somebody who's not into blondes at all) and I am a bit sad she did not manage a huge breakthrough (yet?) as she really shines in here and is the prime example of how it is more than possible to deliver an amazing performance in a genre film that may not be as perfect for actors in making an impact as it's all about the story and shock value. But Kaluuya's awards success recently showed us how things are maybe changing too in that direction. Anyway, back to this one here. All the actors are doing a fine job really. The other one I'd like to mention is Pat Healy, whose character looks a bit like a normal guy / nothing character, but he added many interesting layers there probably also thanks to West's script and direction. His scenes with Paxton are pretty strong and the two have nice chemistry too. As for the approach to horror, it was exactly what I hoped it would be. I am a much bigger fan of invisible scares than of brutal depictions of excessive violence, so the base was right already for me here. Maybe the introduction early on was slightly a bit too long for my taste, but it's really just nitpicking for anything I did not appreciate about the film and because everything else worked so well. Every new character added something memorable, the actress maybe not that much as I hoped she would, but the old man going up there to the bathtub was definitely something special and worth the wait. The effects looked pretty nice too. I am not surprised this is a film that resonated better with critics apparently than with general audiences because it is a bit specific at times and certainly not for everybody. For example the guy next to me was almost aflling asleep on several occasions, then again maybe he was just tired, and left the film early. The location was perfect too for the scenario, the hotel with us not having any idea what scary things may be going on behind the doors, but also the descent at the very end and going down into the dark is one thing that always leaves an impact on me. Snother mention to the scene where the two are calling upon the deceased lady and we see her shadow appear. Man that was scary. And in retrospective, the asthma inhaler references made sense too and I really did not see the ending coming. There is a lot more under the surface here than I recognized I am sure and this also makes it a film worth seeing once more. A must-see for genre lovers, definitely one of the best films of 2011 and I really think the only ones who shoudl not see this one are those who don't care about horror at all. Certainly closer to a ****/***** for me than to a **/*****, way closer. Go see it asap if you haven't already.

I was hoping for a good ghost story but it failed to deliver. I was rather bored half way into the film. Mainly the two innkeepers are friends and flirt with each other. I think they like each other in "that way" but neither wants to make the first move - that's what I got out of it for the most part. OH then we have our ghost or spirit that is hardly focused on for most of the flick. Towards the end of the film they finally get to the ghost but by then I really didn't care, I just wanted the movie over with. It's true that about the time you think the movie is going to get good then it drops back down to more scenes of friends flirting again or other mundane things. 3/10

I wanted to watch The Innkeepers since it came out back in 2011, and it was recently on television. I recorded it, and gladly decided to curl up on a chilly winter's night thinking that the adrenaline would help warm me up, and that I might even spill my hot chocolate.Unfortunately, this was not the case.The Innkeepers won 2 awards and was nominated for another four; it won Scariest Film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and also won Best Musical Score at Screamfest. In my opinion, it only deserved the Best Musical Score.Now, I give a lot of horror movies a chance but this movie was just... grim. Sure, there were scary moments that caused you to flinch away from the screen, but nothing to make you, or rather, me, fully jump. The plot was predictable, and I felt that it lagged on. There were two or three times I had to turn it off and come back to it for the main fact that I couldn't get into the movie itself. The plot – two inn workers are trying to prove that there's a ghost that haunts the inn they work at before it closes down.With the scares few and far between, I honestly do not understand how this won Scariest Film at Toronto, when there were plenty of better movies released.The movie itself was alright. I definitely wouldn't watch it again, and I wouldn't go out my way to buy the DVD or to own a copy of the movie. I suppose for people who are not avid horror watchers, this movie would be ideal – and probably a lot scarier to, but for your avid horror watchers, I'd avoid this movie and go watch a good old fashioned fright fest like The Descent. Scoring only a 4/10 from me, I would avoid this movie.

There is one thing that this movie will guarantee, "You may fall asleep halfway through with boredom and waiting for something to happen". It doesn't until the end when such a mundane existence leads to a slight mental breakdown, and that's it. The whole movie consists of just two slackers telling ghost stories to relieve their boredom, and there are an odd couple of creepy old people thrown in a pathetic attempt to revive interest. Yawn :( The moral of this movie is 'idle hands are the devil's workshop'. In other words, it's a tale of what results from idle boredom. For some bizarre reason someone assigned this garbage to the 'horror' genre. If it must be accredited to any genre, then just throw it into suspense, since you spend most of the movie waiting.