64350064
With “The Innkeepers,” the first thing writer/director Ti West does is prove that a modern horror film can be scary and still look like a million bucks. In this era of DIY, found-footage thrillers, where spookiness and value are often determined by lack of refinement, West is a very welcome respite, offering a true aesthetic and revealing grand influences like Stanley Kubrick and Roman Polanski. His haunted-hotel flick, a follow-up to the well-received “The House of the Devil,” is a real beauty, its creaky 19th-century building richly photographed and terrifically lit. The hallways and stairways and entryways have that great look of the genre — one of romanticism, but of something dreadful happening just out of frame.
The duo of the title are Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy), two apparent college dropouts presiding over the struggling establishment before it shuts its doors for good. Pixie-sweet yet kitten-curious, Claire shows a strong interest in the hotel hauntings Luke monitors on his homespun website, a last-ditch, tourist-trap effort to bring money to the inn. With the zeal of an as-seen-on-TV ghost hunter, Claire pursues the specter of a legendary woman who died on the premises centuries back, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready for what she eventually finds.
West ably builds up ample tension with his slow-burn approach, filling the first hour with conversation and mere traces of a phantom menace. Knowingly embracing tropes, he throws in a washed-up actress turned medium (Kelly McGillis) who gives requisite insights on the spirit world, and a shifty old man who’d be funny if he weren’t so damned creepy. Jeff Grace’s score, meanwhile, brings maximum impact to some seriously chilling shots.
And yet, something’s amiss in this handsome campfire tale, which West whittles down so finely it seems affected and unfinished. There’s a sense the director is aiming for a commentary on the dreamlife of 21st-century 20-somethings, especially apparitional in this age of unemployment, but even that seems generous when considering the movie’s naggingly sparse narrative. Fine construction aside, there’s a difference between classy minimalism and bare-bones hoodwinking.
The Innkeepers
R
Two-and-a-half reels out of four
Opens tomorrow at the Ritz at the Bourse
Recommended Rental
Anonymous
PG-13
Available Tuesday
A preposterously sordid conspiracy drama that purports Shakespeare didn’t actually write his plays, Roland Emmerich’s “Anonymous” isn’t about to win a whole lot of believers. But it is one fun and delicious period piece, filled unbound intrigue (and shameless incest) among those crazy Elizabethan royals. As the duke who “actually” penned the Bard’s masterworks, Rhys Ifans gives one of 2011’s best performances.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
64350059
64350069
