THE INNKEEPERS
****
Directed by Ti West.
Starring Pat Healy, Sara Paxton, Kelly McGillis.
USA, 2011, 101 mins, Certificate 15
Released on Limited Edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray & Standard Edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray by Second Sight
on 25th August 2025
Somehow almost 15 years have passed since Ti West fulfilled the promise of THE ROOST and THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL with this deceptively light and low-key, single-location ghost story. Reuniting with key earlier collaborators including composer Jeff Grace (providing a marvellously imposing main title theme) and sound designer Graham Reznick, the writer-director minimises the conventional post-J-Horror jump scares in favour of a character-driven tale shot through with wit and melancholy.
THE INNKEEPERS understands that some of the greatest horror films would still make for compelling viewing even with the overtly horrific elements stripped out. Here’s a film that’s really about two underpaid, bored co-workers passing the time during their last weekend working at the Yankee Pedlar Inn. Sara Paxton and Pat Healy (who later appeared together in the frankly awesome CHEAP THRILLS) by cashing in on the hotel’s alleged resident ghost, Madeline O’Malley (Brenda Cooney), who hung herself in Room 353 after being abandoned by her fiancée. Her corpse was stashed in the wood cellar and her restless spectre now allegedly haunts the place.
The amateur ghost hunters at the core of the story reflects a common trend in the post-BLAIR WITCH PROJECT found footage horror landscape, complete with archaic spook-attracting equipment and a Yankee Pedlar website that Healy maintains in between browsing sites with names like “Butt Crumpets” and “The Tit Punch”. West’s elegant, unhurried technique, and the authentically awkward, insecure central characterisations set this apart from the pack. The rapport between Paxton and Healy reminds us of those repetitive, dead-end customer service jobs we’ve all had, the kind of low-paying gigs you now look back on with nostalgia, the genuinely fabulous times you had when working with the right people. Paxton has a gift for physical comedy – there’s a lovely bit involving a heavy bag and a dumpster – while Healy is a likeable geek to whom you immediately warm. West melds workplace banality (yes, there’s a comedy coffee mug!) with genuine chills, from a piano playing by itself to the growing sense of unease in and around the corridors of this downmarket-Overlook.
Kelly McGillis, who made a fine screen comeback in Jim Mickle’s earlier, excellent STAKE LAND (2010), excels as a faded actress (with a C.V. including mediocre sounding fare like THE WAKING OF ELEANOR) turned amateur medium who swiftly has Healy geeking out. There’s a cute running gag about Paxton’s tendency to irritate the young mother (Alison Bartlett) staying with her slightly weird son (Jake Ryan, later a Wes Anderson regular and a supporting presence in Bo Burnham’s outstanding EIGHTH GRADE). The indie comedy vibe (look out for future GIRLS creator / star Lena Dunham as a barista) is balanced with an underlying pathos – notably via George Riddle as an older guest staying in a room full of memories. The scares are carefully engineered and don’t condescend: for once, the inevitable “Let’s go down to the creepy basement” scene makes narrative sense.
Second Sight’s typically lavish Limited Edition release comes complete with beautiful new artwork by Nick Charge, six collectors’ art cards and a 120-page book showcasing new essays by reliable scribes like Barry Forshaw and Becky Darke. It has always looked and sounded great on Blu-ray (turn it up loud for maximum impact during the relatively sparse outright scares), and the new 4K restoration overseen by West provides an even more detailed and atmospheric image throughout.
Ported over from earlier releases are a short behind the scenes featurette and two commentaries. On one, Ti West joins Reznick and producers Larry Fessenden and Peter Phok to guide us through the pleasures and pitfalls of making a cheap, one-location supernatural chiller; and, on the other, West hooks up with Paxton and Healy for a good-humoured general chit-chat about the production, with plenty of amusing anecdotes along the way.
Best of all, Phillip Escott has produced six excellent new interviews for this release. Producer Jacob Jaffke, in “A Validating Moment” (14 mins), and composer Jeff Grace (“Cast a Wide Net”, 8 mins) offer their memories, with Grace recalling a close collaboration with Reznick and the creation of a main title theme that “needed to make a statement”. Cinematographer Eliot Rockett, in “Living the Process” (10 mins), discusses the director’s strong vision and the importance of shooting 35mm widescreen. West himself, in “A Lasting Memory” (15 mins), speaks of his own personal creative need to alternate serious films with lighter fare for the sake of sanity (the heavy THE SACRAMENT was his next project) and recounts how THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL crew’s experiences while staying at the Yankee Pedlar for that film’s shoot inspired THE INNKEEPERS.
The standout interviews are the longest. Larry Fessenden, who oversaw several excellent indie genre films in the early 2000s, is typically honest and enthusiastic in “Our Dysfunctional World” (31 mins), highlighting the Roger Corman influence on his company Glass Eye Pix’s mantra: “Whatever you want to see onscreen, find a way to do it on a budget”. His passion for horror, for physical media and THE INNKEEPERS (“a muted romcom with a ghost”) are clear, and you could comfortably listen to him for hours. The same applies to the long underrated Pat Healy who, like Fessenden, is clearly a cinephile and horror fan. In “Let’s Make This Good” (30 mins), he shares memories about SEINFELD’s Michael Richards, his rapport with Sara Paxton and how Martin Scorsese’s love of THE INNKEEPERS gave him a huge career boost and a role in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. He’s suitably affectionate about this film and the relationships forged during its making. If there was any justice, both he and Sara Paxton would have become big stars long ago.
Steven West