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Review: The Innkeepers

Ti West's spook show
By PEG ALOI  |  January 31, 2012
2.0 2.0 Stars



The Yankee Pedlar Inn is about to shut down after 100 years, and its two hipster employees, tomboyish Claire (Sara Paxton) and nerdy Luke (Pat Healy), are trying for a few last-minute paranormal video grabs of the inn's many ghosts and spooks for Luke's DIY website. A famous but jaded medium (Kelly McGillis) checks in, and Claire is star-struck. Soon enough, the psychic activity heats up, and Luke (less a believer than Claire) gets freaked. The inn's lore tells of a wedding night gone very wrong, and Claire starts to see visions of the carnage; too late, she realizes her video equipment can't protect her. Ti West's spook show is atmospheric (thanks to the terrific hotel setting) and frequently funny; but the plot line is choppy, the dialogue often unnecessary, and the scares too sparse. West only manages to wrangle a tepid horror film out of a fine opportunity to explore the territory of paranormal belief in a down-to-earth way.

Related: Review: The Devil Inside, Review: Joyful Noise, Review: The Iron Lady, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Boston, medium, dialogue,  More more >
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    Ti West's spook show is atmospheric (thanks to the terrific hotel setting) and frequently funny; but the plot line is choppy, the dialogue often unnecessary, and the scares too sparse.
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