Review:

The Innkeepers would have been better as a movie about just innkeepers. The main characters are very well developed and relatable. If we just spent an hour and a half with the two innkeepers working the last weekend before the hotel closes, I'd have been all about it. It was kind of funny and the directing and script had a Kevin Smith feel (I'm not a Kevin Smith fan, but I do like the quirkiness). My issue is with the paranormal element, which is unfortunate because it was the soul reason I picked this film. You can definitely tell that The Innkeepers was made on a budget. It takes quite a while for the paranormal elements pick up and when they did, I was disappointed with the appearance ghosts. I hope they didn't pay Lena Dunham for her five minute role as annoying barista, because that money could have gone to either better makeup for the ghosts or maybe a little CGI. The ghost element didn't get the care that the characters do. It's predictable and just not particularly compelling. I understand that every writer gets to decide how ghosts work in their movie, but there are some pretty consistent bits of ghost lore(?) that The Inkeepers doesn't quite follow. EVP works the same in every paranormal movie, tv show, and ghost hunting show, so it was weird for them to do it differently (I don't hold that against them in the rating). I was hoping for a paranormal horror in a hotel on its last legs. I did get some great characterization and setting, but the story wasn't at all what it should have been. It starts off great and gets progressively worse leading to a confusing and unsatisfying ending.