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The Innkeepers: Limited Edition
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Second Sight Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (8th September 2025). |
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The Film
 Audience Award (Spotlight Premiere): Ti West (nominee) - SXSW Film Festival, 2011 Festival Trophy (Best Musical Score): Jeff Grace (winner) - Screamfest, 2011 Chainsaw Award (Best Score): Jeff Grace (nominee) - Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, 2013 Special Award (Scariest Film – Fans Choice Award): Ti West (winner) - Toronto After Dark Film Festival, 2011 Fright Meter Award (Best Director): Ti West (nominee) and Best Actress: Sara Paxton (nominee) - Fright Meter Awards, 2012 Rondo Statuette (Best Film): Ti West (nominee) - Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, 2012 With the owner away in Barbados and the only guest a mother (Alison Bartlett) and her child (Moonrise Kingdom's Jake Ryan), hotel clerks Claire (The Last House on the Left remake's Sara Paxton) and Luke (Starry Eyes' Pat Healy) take advantage of the last weekend in business of the historic Yankee Pedlar Inn to find definitive proof of the hotel's haunted history. Slacker Luke has claimed to have seen ghosts but never when he had a camera, the only video he has been able to upload to his website is a single shot of a door closing on its own in one of the corridors. Aimless Claire is fascinated by the possibility of the supernatural and is drawn to the story of Madeline O'Malley who was jilted by her fiance and hung herself in one of the rooms in the early twentieth century. Fearing for their business' reputation, the owners hid her body in the cellars until they could dispose of it under cover of night. When the truth was discovered, the owners were forced to sell the hotel and it sat empty until the 1960s. Claire is starstruck when former sitcom star Leanne Reese-Jones (Cat Chaser's Kelly McGillis) checks in to speak at a convention in the area and also allows a cash-paying old man (George Riddle) who never gives his name to stay in a room in the cleared-out third floor where he claims to have stayed on his honeymoon. Splitting the last four twelve-hour shifts between them, Luke spends most of his time working on his paranormal website while Claire tries to pick up EVPs; as such, Claire is surprised when Luke is not overjoyed when she picks up the piano playing on its own and strange sounds in the hotel cellars. Frightened one night when left on her own at the front desk, Claire confides in Leanne who reveals that she quit acting to become a psychic medium. Using a crystal pendulum, Leanne and Claire attempt to make contact with the presence in the hotel. Although Claire is certain that it must be the spirit of Madeline O'Malley, Leanne divines the presence of three malevolent entities and warns Claire to stay out of the cellars. This only fascinates Claire more while making Luke more skeptical to the point of antagonizing Leanne about her reported alcoholism and suggesting to Claire that the actress' psychic powers are must a racket; but Claire is determined more than ever, making herself vulnerable to the influence of whatever else inhabits the Yankee Pedlar Inn with the living. After a duo of small-scale direct-to-video horror efforts The Roost and Trigger Man, director Ti West made a name during that period in the early 2000s when a growing network of genre-specific film festivals and companies like LionsGate (who had just taken over The Blair Witch Project distributor Artisan Entertainment) and MPI's Dark Sky Films were the primary movers behind the indie (and indie studio horror) boom of the dwindling rental and early streaming era. With House of the Devil, West was almost immediately crowned the king of the retro trend of "slow burn" horror. While his follow-up feature Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever had the excuse of reportedly being heavily compromised by the distributor, his next slow burn work The Innkeepers – produced like his earlier features by Glass Eye Pix's own indie horror maverick Larry Fessenden and Dark Sky who also co-produced and distributed House of the Devil – proved strangely the more divisive picture by people who thought the former film embodied the eighties throwback quality that subsequent low- and no-budget horror filmmakers would attempt to emulate but would also start to inform popular culture in television (genre and otherwise). Without the eighties music, flashy photographic and editing style, or splashy gore, the slicker The Innkeepers feels more like a nineties indie film with its quirkier characters – including an extraneous guest appearance by Girls' Lena Dunham – and vaguely black comic tone which seems less reminiscent of The Shining than Kingsley Amis' novel "The Green Man" and its television adaptation in terms of hotel/inn-based horrors. There is potential early on with it being just as likely that Luke – who seems more at ease with his aimlessness than Claire – is bullshitting and Leanne is either a grifter or a shallow actress glomming onto a spiritual fad, along with the tantalizingly unanswered question by Leanne to Claire of what she wants from the ghosts (along with Leanne explaining that the ghosts just want "to live"). There is certainly the potential of an "it was all in her head" answer in Claire's obsession with the hotel's ghost story and unacknowledged guilt in not seeing the quite obvious signs with the old man guest in that what happened could have happened with or without the intervention of ghosts. It is largely thanks to the strong performances of Paxton, Healy, and McGillis – satisfying doing the most here with the least – that the film holds our interest since the fake and real jump scares and more subtle aural and visual hauntings are underwhelming (the same year's Paranormal Activity 3 made far more effective use of the ghost under the bedsheet gag). A ruinous flaw common to West's three early major works – this, the aforementioned House of the Devil, and his pseudo-true crime found footage documentary The Sacrament – and indeed, West's more recent comeback hit in X which kicked off a trilogy – is its switch turn from the slow-burn first two acts to a full-on horror climax that always feels mechanical rather, ironically killing the momentum of the slow-burn while upping the pacing considerably; and it feels all the more obvious here thanks to the structure which divides the film into titled chapters. Watching the film again after a decade, this reviewer's opinion has not changed that The Innkeepers is an improvement on the better-received House of the Devil but it is still only two-thirds of a good film during its "slower" slow burn first two acts, and that while West has diversified the subject matter of his genre films, he still falls into the same structural routine (or traps) of his earlier hits. 
Video
Released on Blu-ray in 2011 in the states by co-producer/distributor Dark Sky Films' parent company MPI Media in the U.S. and by the now-defunct Metrodome Distribution in the U.K., The Innkeepers has always looked and sounded great on physical media. Originally finished in 2K from Super 35mm lensing, a digital intermediate, and anamorphic 35mm prints along with digital masters in 2.35:1 and opened up rather than cropped 1.78:1 for some streaming venues, the film has undergone a new 4K restoration supervised by West debuting in the U.K. from Second Sight on limited edition 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray combo, standard edition 4K UltraHD, and standard edition Blu-ray with a stateside steelbook combo option coming soon from Dark Sky's website-exclusive "Selects" line. The 2160p24 HEVC 2.40:1 Dolby Vision widescreen and 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen Blu-ray gives a more filmic vibe to a production that seemed more "digital" in its earlier master thanks as much to the digital intermediate stage – the digital output of which most of us saw on Blu-ray or streaming rather than prints – and the psychological effect of its overall slicker look compared to the intentionally gritty 16mm-lensed House of the Devil. We have no idea if the 4K restoration included redoing some CGI removals of elements or if those bits were either sourced from the 2K DI's 35mm out or had been cut into the negative but the grading is very naturalistic avoiding the contrastier "egdy" look given to most horror films – once again giving this a bit more of a nineties "indie film" feel rather than specifically an indie horror one – but even in 1080p, blacks which were inky in the earlier incarnation seem to possess more depth which is particularly effective during the dining room EVP sequence that in HD and more so in 4K gains a better sense of "space" rather than being a backdrop to Paxton sitting on a table under an overhead light. The even darker basement finale has a few tight close-ups of Paxton's fear and a couple brief glimpses through shafts of light of the apparitions that elicit a greater frisson on their own rather than due to the musical accompaniment but the real benefits of 4K here are close-ups of the actors that subtly enhance Claire's fragility in her palor – even when Claire is trying to look scary with a flashlight under her face telling the ghost story to the child – while giving Healy's slacker Luke a bit of "warmth" (apart from Dunham, the other actors could very well be apparitions with a slight gray to their skin tones). Wider, well-lit shots can look a little flatter but presumably this is an effect of the shooting since Fidelity-in-Motion is credited with doing the encode and presumably wrung everything they could out of the master. There is also a greater sense of movement as the Steadicam moves through corridors with the fine grain giving a sense of the "weight" of the free-floating 35mm rig rather than the lighter pro and DIY rights used on digitally-lensed productions. 
Audio
Alas no Atmos remix option but the original DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has always been one of the more adventurous works of an independent horror film rather than the expected stereo mix spiked with rear channel effects underneath scoring and a subtle blanket of droning. Experimentation is evident early on during the fake scare video as Luke's voice and sound design collapses around Claire as she puts the earbuds on and focuses on the laptop screen. Sound design and the score often work in concert with one another and the EVP audio gives one a false sense of security for the moments when sound and voices are actually heard by Claire without the recording device like the voice during the climax that draws Claire to her doom that sounds so distant but normal even though we all know it is anything but. Optional English SDH subtitles are also provided. 
Extras
Apart from the pair of commentary tracks, the "The Innkeepers: Behind the Scenes" piece (7:27) and the theatrical trailer (2:09), extras are brand new and appear to have been produced by Second Sight in concert with Dark Sky whose page for their 4K edition lists the same new extras (although it does not list the commentaries or behind the scenes piece which they produced but might or might not have included since their product page for their steelbook Blu-ray of House of the Devil actually does list both newly-produced and archival extras), making Second Sight's 4K currently the one to get unless the Dark Sky turns out to be a direct port of this edition with replaced logos (like the Australian Umbrella Entertainment release of Second Sight's 4K of The Babadook). The audio commentary by writer/director/editor Ti West, producers Larry Fessenden and Peter Phok, and sound designer Graham Reznick reveals that the hotel was where the production for House of the Devil had stayed and that its vibe was felt by everyone who stayed there – it has a real reputation of being haunted by its former owner – and that West was inspired and wrote the script within to weeks around the idea of using the hotel before knowing if they could even get permission. Having the sets, production office, and sleeping accommodations all in one place meant that they could save money but they also discovered that they did need the production design team to do a little work when they initially expected shooting the location as-is. They also point out a sound effect they reused frequently that was stolen from a Lucio Fulci film (The Beyond?). West discusses his concept of putting nerdy characters in an old-fashioned ghost story, casting – with West discovering the goofiness of Paxton that other filmmakers seemed to hide when casting her – and pulling back on some of the "crazy shots" he initially had planned as a distraction to a character-driven movie. The audio commentary by writer/director/editor Ti West and actors Sara Paxton and Pat Healy is a giddier affair covering Paxton's Sun Chips addiction, Healy's hairstyle – how his routine neck adjustment became a horror moment in the film's trailer – and an elaborate fan theory. They also reflect on lines of dialogue, with West revealing that some were meant to be gentle foreshadowing while others were just throwaway lines that took on significance with the audience. West also discusses the challenge of pitching a role of an "old actress" to older actresses with only McGillis not caring about the knocks to her character's vanity (as well as being inspired by House of the Devil's Dee Wallace who is a spiritual healer but not in the "jerky" mold of McGillis' character while the actors reflect on Riddle's endearing quirks.  "A Lasting Memory" (15:05) is a new interview with West who discusses the projects origins in the production of House of the Devil, casting people who "get" the movie, shooting in 35mm versus digital, and the saving of using one location for an entire film. "Let's Make This Good" (30:18) is an interview with actor Healy who reveals that at the time of the film, he was burnt out as an actor with the audition process and had more success as a writer even though the scripts that he sold did not get made when West asked him to do the film (Healy notes that Leigh Whannell and Joe Swanberg had also been considered for the role). He also discusses the remote and depressed area where the movie was shot – revealing that its more moneyed surrounding towns were where Dunham's family lived and where Michael Richards was hiding out after his racist stand-up comedy incident – and that the hotel had a real Luke character with a paranormal website who was flattered and thought the film was about him. "Our Dysfunctional World" (31:26) is an interview with producer Fessenden who reveals that West was recommended to him as an intern by teacher/filmmaker Kelly Reichardt who had previously cast Fessenden in River of Grass. Fessenden was impressed by West's three short horror films and offered to make a feature with him when he decided to produce a line of low-budget horror films of which West's The Roost was the one that doubled its budget in distributor sales. He also recalls that West pitched a "pizza and ghosts" project and a babysitter project, and that his investors went with the latter which became House of the Devil with funding and distribution coming from MPI who wanted to reboot their brand as a producer with West incorporating the former idea into what would become The Innkeepers after the crew's experiences staying at the hotel. "Living in the Process" (9:36) is an interview with director of photography Eliot Rockett who discusses West's reasoning for shooting scope and 35mm after the 16mm House of the Devil with a great emphasis of characters in the width of the phsyical space compared to the former film with its babysitter downstairs and unknown horror upstairs utilizing upward and downward angles to emphasize the protagonist's vulnerability. He reveals that the shooting methods for a low budget horror film and a high budget television work are essentially the same and that the single location and West's precision and focus meant that there was an emphasis on preparation rather than discovery while baseline plans could be altered during the shoot. "Cast a Wide Net" (8:17) is an interview with composer Jeff Grace whose title comes from his notion of "casting a wide net" of influences when creating a score rather than the narrow focus of similar productions in the interest of creating something new while also utilizing or turning familiar elements on their head. He also reveals that since the score had to work in concert with the sound design of West's regular collaborator Graham Reznick (I Can See You), so he used the main title sequence as an opportunity to make a "statement" with a theme while also thinking of underscoring for the rest of the film and a way to then weave in his main theme in other places. "A Validating Moment" (14:22) is an interview with line producer Jacob Jaffke who reveals that he was disillusioned after the directing program at NYU and ended up doing odd jobs in retail before trying the Columbia Producing Program and getting recommended by Fessenden to serve as production manager on House of the Devil which was a learn-by-doing experience and he contrasts that with moving up to line producer on The Innkeepers and distinguishes the responsibilities of both roles helpfully for those that assume one is a fancier credit for the other with the line producer making the road map and the production manager expected to deliver its elements at price. He also discusses The Sacrament which was his first experience on a union production dealing with teamsters, IATSE, completion bond companies, and financiers since the development was handled by Eli Roth as a two-for-one deal with The Green Inferno and then handed off to West and himself to execute on a three million dollar budget. 
Packaging
Not supplied for review were the rigid slipcase with new artwork by Nick Charge, 120-page book with new essays by Becky Darke, Barry Forshaw, Prince Jackson, Craig Ian Mann, Rebecca Sayce, and Heather Wixson or the six collectors' art cards.
Overall
The Innkeepers is an improvement on the better-received House of the Devil but it is still only two-thirds of a good film during its "slower" slow burn first two acts, and that while West has diversified the subject matter of his genre films, he still falls into the same structural routine (or traps) of his earlier hits.
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