The Innkeepers

The Innkeepers



It was bound to happen. The TIFF Bell Lightbox shows the best films. This film was even well reviewed. Maybe I have lost it. I even inquired after watching the film with a young lady in the washroom. She felt the same way as I did.

I never go to see scary horror films. I admit I felt like laughing at the scary bits. It didn’t work for me. Some parts of the film were delightful.

Claire and Luke are clerks in the Yankee Pedlar Hotel. It is about to close down. I can’t imagine why. It was so charming. The bedrooms had warm delightful flowery wallpaper. The furniture was old but with charm. The beds had comfy pillows and an attractive coverlet. I would have been delighted to visit this hotel.

There are only three guests. A woman and her child were staying at the hotel because the woman has left her husband. An old scary man is also a resident. A woman comes to spend a night in the hotel. Claire recognizes her as a famous actress and is thrilled to look after her needs. She is attending a conference.

Claire and Luke deliver fresh towels and keep the place going until the next week when it was scheduled to close.

Apparently the hotel is supposed to be ‘spooked’ by a ghost of a woman who died in the hotel. Stories claim that her ghost haunts the hotel. There were loud noises at night and strange sightings. Claire was warned not to go down into the cellar.

Claire gets ‘freaked out at times. Luke seems to be cool with it all. But then he is a strange one himself. He is always on his computer. He has a series of porn sites and is interested in the paranormal.

The interaction between Claire and Luke is funny at times. I delighted in the scenes of the old hotel. The bloody specters and loud noises were ’over the top’. Even I was not frightened. I found it to be amateurish and silly.

The story is told in 3 chapters. The epilogue carried things too far and made it ridiculous. They were warned not to go in the basement. But then there wouldn’t have been a story.

This is one you can skip and save your money and time.