We learn from their interaction with each other that a guest named Madeline O’Malley committed suicide in the hotel years ago and in order to avoid the bad press the owners decided to hide the body in the basement. Only two employees remain for the final weekend that the hotel will stay open, and before it shuts its doors forever Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are determined to find evidence of the haunting. Business hasn’t been going too well as more and more claims of the hotel’s haunted past has affected its attendance. The film begins with an establishing shot of the Yankee Pedlar Inn, a hotel that has been operating for more than a century. In the end it was just another ordinary and predictable ghost tale that simply told its story in a rather unconventional slow pace. I had no problem with the slow pace because I actually enjoy it when they take time to build the characters, but the fact that the film never goes anywhere interesting was a downer.
There were perhaps two slightly disturbing scenes, but there wasn’t more than that so I found it hard to identify with the main protagonist’s fear.
My greatest complaint is that this haunted hotel tale isn’t scary at all and it never unsettled me. There are some great shots and he takes his time to slowly build the atmosphere, but after having seen The Conjuring we learned that it’s possible to do those things while also being frightening. It had also been well received by critics when it was first released and I can see why West’s visual style was appealing. Although I hadn’t seen a film from Ti West, I had heard great things about him (and I did enjoy You’re Next, a film he had a supporting role in). I should’ve taken the hotel employee’s advice and not expected much from it and perhaps then I could’ve been pleasantly surprised. Perhaps the fact that I went into this film with high expectations is the reason why I ended up feeling disappointed.
“If you expect nothing from people, then you go through life being pleasantly surprised.”
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