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They screw with the insufferable guests and we mentally high-five them.
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They joke with each other and we laugh (we laugh a lot- The Innkeepers is a very funny film), they snipe at each other and we nod our heads in understanding recollection. They never discuss it, but they seem to each feel an unlikely ennui about the closing of the quirky, pain-in-the-ass hotel where they've both spent so much of their time. The first half of the film exists entirely in this relationship between Claire and Luke and their respective relationships to the hotel.
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Sometimes you just don't have the energy to hear it all over again. I imagine it's pretty close to the worn and familiar conversations I've had on slow days in an empty office. I guarantee you that Luke's heard Claire's fears and complaints a dozen times already, because that's what friendly co-workers do on a slow night in an empty hotel. Claire looks stricken and yeah, Luke's kind of a dick, but I've worked in that relationship before. He cuts her off and tells her he's exhausted, and he'll listen to the woes of her impending quarter life crisis after his nap. At one point after Leanne disdains her for having no greater ambition than working in a hotel, Claire starts to confide in Luke about her dismay with the weighty expectations of everyone around her. West could have easily created a dynamic of the pitiful nerd mooning over the oblivious cute girl, and while there are hints of that throughout the film, it mostly seems that Claire's trying to get Luke's attention because she admires his strength and direction. He pulls off many of the most comedic moments of the film (although one bit of physical business involving Claire's attempts to wield a heavy, leaking trash bag into an uncooperative dumpster is pure Paxton genius), and he's also likable in that snarky way of nerds who know that they're smarter than you. Luke (Pat Healy) is her dry, dispassionate nerd of a coworker. She drifts and floats, but when the dead guests of the Yankee Pedlar Inn begin to make themselves known in treacherous ways, she shows a lot of substance and interesting courage. She's a person with presence and character who is entirely unable to recognize that within herself.
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Claire's a bit of a ghost herself, haunting the Yankee Pedlar, drifting in and out of corridors, letting herself into occupied guest rooms with very few qualms. Paxton gives a lovely, bright performance, crinkling her nose and hiking her shoulders, shoving her hands in her hoodie pockets and wandering around the hotel looking for company or someone to give her something to do. Claire rather enjoys her crummy job at the Yankee Pedlar she likes being invited to join in Luke's ghost-hunting. She's a slight, optimistic, charming young woman who dropped out of college and only feels guilty for her lack of direction when it's pointed out by Leanne Rease-Jones, her favorite former actress turned psychic who is staying at the hotel (Kelly McGillis in a wonderful role). They enjoy these little traditions and exist easily in the small universe of the Yankee Pedlar, its guests and neighboring businesses.Ĭlaire (Sara Paxton) is the hero of the film. The two share the kind of authentic yet shallow affinity of work friends. Luke, despite the fact that he doesn't believe in ghosts, has started a website to document the strange occurrences they've seen and heard around the hotel Claire is on a mission to help him find evidence of the rumored haunting by a suicidal, jilted fiancée before the doors close forever on the Yankee Pedlar. Luke and Claire are working at the tacky Victorian-style Yankee Pedlar Inn for its final weekend before it shuts down. The Innkeepers has some qualities in common with House of the Devil, but it's a film that gives more weight to the characters and dialogue of the story. I've watched House several times and I know when the scares are coming, but it's the elegant atmosphere and substantive visuals that make that film work. His The Roost still holds up after six years, I believe that what little worked in Cabin Fever 2 was entirely due to West, and The House of the Devil is a film that transcends its own jump-scares. I really feel that West is one of the most interesting horror directors working today. Ti West's The Innkeepers is a taut and polished haunted hotel film with a lot of genuine laughs and surprising depth.