Susan Granger’s review of “The Innkeepers” (Magnet Pictures)
Established in 1891, The Yankee Pedlar Inn in Torrington, Connecticut, has apparently hit hard times. Once known as a popular tavern, it’s preparing to shut its doors forever. Only two minimum-wage college dropouts cover the front desk while the owner vacations in Barbados. And, oh, yes, it’s haunted.
Avid viewers of the website “Real Hauntings,” appealingly tomboyish Claire (Sara Paxton) and dorky Luke (Pat Healy) are determined to document the ghostly presences in what many believe to be one of New England’s most haunted hotels. According to local legend, many years ago, a bride named Madeline O’Malley hung herself there after being jilted on her wedding day. Fearful of bad publicity, the owners hid her body for three days. After it was eventually found, they were forced to sell the establishment. Apparently, Madeline’s spirit has never left the premises.
As the Inn’s final days draw near, a once-famous actress, Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), checks in. Since retiring from TV, she has taken up psychic healing. So when the deserted piano in the lobby inexplicably sounds a chord, panicked Claire consults Leanne, who whips out a crystal pendulum, offering to help Claire communicate with the poltergeists.
As Leanne puts it, “There is no ‘real’ in this world, only different stages of being.” But vodka-swilling Leanne also senses imminent danger, warning Claire not to go into the basement. Which, of course, she does.
Finally, on the Inn’s last day, an Elderly Man (George Riddle) appears, paying cash and insisting on staying in Room 353 on the now-vacated third-floor room in which he spent his honeymoon.
Writer/director/editor Ti West (“The House of the Devil,” “Trigger Man”) tackles this ghost-story in a deadly serious fashion with slow, deliberate pacing, seemingly endless amounts of paranormal prattle disguised as dialogue and few spooky scares, despite Jeff Grace’s ominously moody music.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Innkeepers” is a tedious 3 – and the real, turn-of-the-century Yankee Pedlar Inn (www.pedlarinn.com) is still in existence, welcoming guests at the foot of the Berkshire Hills.
