The Innkeepers – Second Sight

Director: Ti West
Screenplay: Ti West
Starring: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, Alison Bartlett, Jake Ryan, Lena Dunham, George Riddle, Brenda Cooney, John Speradakos
Country: United States
Running Time: 101 min
Year: 2011
BBFC Certificate: 15

Director and writer Ti West hit the big time in recent years with his trilogy of X, Pearl and MaXXXine, which received generally widespread critical acclaim and box office success. Prior to these homages to a range of genres and classic films, West directed odes to 70s horror with The House of the Devil and his take on the slow burn ghost story, The Innkeepers.

Second Sight have been championing the director with a wonderful limited edition Blu-ray release of The House of the Devil and a similarly well curated limited edition Blu-ray for The Sacrament. Now The Innkeepers gets the Second Sight treatment and, as a fan of West’s brand of genre film, I jumped at the chance to review it.

The Innkeepers follows Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy), as the only staff working at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, a once majestic hotel that’s seen far better times and is days away from closing down. The duo are ghost hunting enthusiasts who are interested in the haunted history of the hotel, with Luke running a website delving into apparent supernatural happenings in the building.

The pair are particularly intrigued by the case of a ghost called Madeline O’Malley, a bride who was jilted at the altar and subsequently hanged herself, with her body found in the basement of the hotel. The film chronicles Claire and Luke’s investigations into spooky goings on at the accommodation, and their interactions with its final guests, including former actress Leanne (Kelly McGillis).

Like other works by West, The Innkeepers is a deliberately paced film, allowing us time to get to know the characters and the setting, and building up to the scares, though there’s the occasional very early jump scare.

The opening credits run over photos of the hotel, presumably in its heyday, looking very grand and opulent. No-one is seen in the images, which, together with Jeff Grace’s fabulous and unsettling score, creates an ominous atmosphere before we’ve even got going. The structure of the film then plays out like chapters of a novel, complete with chapter titles between each section. It’s a neat touch that makes it feel like a classic ghost story or horror novel.

The film, aside from whether it scares you or not, will likely work or not for you based on how you feel about the two lead characters. I can appreciate how some viewers may find Claire and Luke annoying (I felt that on occasion myself) but overall I really warmed to them and was invested in their interactions and ghost hunting.

McGillis is great as the mysterious actress who checks into the hotel for its final week, and has a secret to be uncovered. Lena Dunham also memorably pops up as an intense coffee shop barista.

The cinematography is excellent, with some marvellous shots, like one that tracks a character up the hotel’s stairs from above, for example. Depth of field is well used, with objects or walls between the camera and the characters. Special mention, again, for Grace’s score, which fits the film perfectly and helps no end with the atmosphere.

But this is a ghost story, and a key question would be, is it scary? There are some telegraphed jump scares that will work for you or not depending on your propensity for such tropes, but mostly this is a slow burn study in atmosphere.

It is very creepy at times, particularly when either character is alone watching videos on Luke’s website or reading the history of the ghost Madeline O’Malley and hearing strange noises. The camera lingers and we’re expecting to see something spooky. Sometimes we do, and at other times the tension builds but is released without any kind of horror. It does ratchet up the scares and sense of unease in the final 20 minutes, though; a segment that I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, yes, it is spooky and creepy at times, but a viewer needs to be patient, as in between the moments of dread, we get to know the characters and see them goofing around and trying to scare each other. I also found some of the jump scares to be annoying, but then I’m not the biggest fan of cheap shock tactics.

In closing, I enjoyed The Innkeepers, particularly its deliberate pace and the final act. Not all of the elements worked for me, and there were a few too many cheap jump scares, but overall it’s a very watchable and entertaining slow burn horror.

Film:

The Innkeepers is released by Second Sight Films on limited edition dual format 4K UHD and Blu-ray and separate standalone 4K and Blu-ray editions on 25th August 2025. I reviewed the 4K disc. Second Sight’s new restoration is very good. The print is clean and the colour scheme and tones feel very natural. There’s a good level of detail throughout, too, best evidenced via the clothes the characters wear and some of the furniture on the hotel. The audio is spot on, all the better for building up the tension.

Special Features:

Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs

New Second Sight Films 4K restoration approved by Director Ti West

UHD presented in HDR with Dolby Vision

Audio commentary with Writer/Director/Editor Ti West, Producers Larry Fessenden and Peter Phok, and Sound Designer Graham Reznick

Audio commentary with Ti West and Actors Sara Paxton and Pat Healy

A Lasting Memory: a new interview with Ti West

Let’s Make This Good: a new interview with Pat Healy

Our Dysfunctional World: a new interview with Larry Fessenden

Living in the Process: a new interview with Director of Photography Eliot Rockett

Cast a Wide Net: a new interview with Composer Jeff Grace

A Validating Moment: a new interview with Line Producer Jacob Jaffke

The Innkeepers: Behind the Scenes

Trailer

Limited Edition Contents:

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

6 collectors’ art cards 

The first audio commentary is with writer/director/editor Ti West, producers Larry Fessenden and Peter Phok, and sound designer Graham Reznick. Fessenden turns up partway through. The group pack a lot of information into the commentary, which is very scene-specific but provides a wealth of background to the making of the film as well as thoughts on the location, the characters, some of the actors and more. There’s no straight ‘making of’ documentary on the disc, but this and the other commentary more than makes up for it.

The second audio commentary features director Ti West and actors Sara Paxton and Pat Healy, the latter revealing that it was the first commentary he had recorded. It’s a fun commentary. I felt I got more out of the first one, as I learned a lot about the making of the film, but this was great fun too, with the trio sharing their memories of the shoot and some of the scenes. I particularly enjoyed their recollections of the coffee shop scene with Lena Dunham. 

A Lasting Memory is a new 15-minute interview with director Ti West. He’s on great form, explaining about the hotel in the film and how it was where the crew stayed during the making of The House of the Devil, and how the stories he heard there inspired him to make The Innkeepers. He talks about the writing process, film shooting formats, the location, the choice of actors, and plenty more.

Let’s Make This Good is a new 30-minute interview with actor Pat Healy, who plays Luke in the film. He shares how he came across Ti West, watching the director’s The House of the Devil alone and how it “blew” his mind. He talks about his casting in The Innkeepers, his memories of the hotel location and recollections of filming the movie, the inspiration for Kelly McGillis’ character and his character and plenty more, including the opportunities starring in the film gave him and Martin Scorsese’s love of the movie. It’s a really entertaining piece.

Our Dysfunctional World is a new 32-minute interview with producer Larry Fessenden, who, like the other interviewees, is excellent. He talked about Ti West’s early short films and how he came into contact with him and how West pitched The Roost to him, which became his debut feature. He talks about the road to The Innkeepers, some of the actors in the film, including some warm comments on McGillis. Fantastic stuff.

Living in the Process is a new 10-minute interview with director of photography Eliot Rockett, who gives his recollections of how The House of the Devil crew’s stay at the Yankee Pedlar hotel inspired the making of The Innkeepers,  his process and his memories of the filming of the film, as well as the lack of attention he felt the film got compared to The House of the Devil.

Cast a Wide Net is an eight-minute piece with composer Jeff Grace who describes what his ambitions were with the film and discusses some of the themes. It’s brief but Grace packs a lot of information in within the runtime and, as I really enjoyed the score, I found this to be a great little interview.

A Validating Moment is a 14-minute interview with line producer Jacob Jaffke who shares how he got into filmmaking and how he came to get involved with The Innkeepers. He also shares details of what his role on the film entailed. Another neat little interview.

The archival The Innkeepers Behind the Scenes does what it says on the tin for seven minutes and features some behind the scenes footage, together with some brief interviews from the time of the making of the film, including with director West. Brief, but welcome, particularly for the small snippets of behind the scenes footage.

Completing the on-disc extras is the two-minute contemporary trailer, which does an excellent job of selling the film, perhaps too good for some viewers, as it makes it look faster paced.

I wasn’t provided with the book or art cards, unfortunately, so can’t comment on these other than to say that Second Sight’s books are usually excellent.

In closing, Second Sight have provided a strong audio visual presentation and a fabulous package of mostly new extras for The Innkeepers, including two insightful commentaries and some entertaining and informative new interviews, totalling almost two hours. The film itself is not my favourite from West, but its strongest moments are very atmospheric and creepy. Highly recommended for fans of the film.

Disc/Package: