Fantastic Fest 2011

Director Ti West and Executive Producer Greg Newman live in person!

Luke and Claire are about to be freed of their crappy job, but not by any manner of their choosing. The Yankee Peddler Inn is closing its doors forever. In an effort to make their last night more bearable than the hundreds that preceded it, these two amateur ghost-hunters pound too many beers and strive to capture evidence of a real apparition. Against the warnings of a famous, recently arrived actress-turned-psychic, these two delve deeper and deeper into the unknown; something that could very well make this the last job they ever lose.

In 2009, Ti West punched through the skulls of Fantastic Fest audiences with his phenomenal film THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL. With THE INNKEEPERS, West demonstrates his diversity as a filmmaker even while working within the same genre. THE INNKEEPERS is a tremendous blend of offbeat comedy and brooding, unnerving horror. The dry, dispassionate banter between Luke and Claire is genuinely funny and we begin to care a great deal about these two slackers.

The connection built between the characters, and subsequently between them and the audience, is precisely what fuels the intensity of the scares. We get to watch two people who only marginally believe in the supernatural get slammed in the face with irrefutable evidence and react in a way that both fosters laughter and builds suspense. The film largely steers clear of the jump scare crutches so prevalent in modern horror and instead earns every fright.

Strong performances, unique tonal shifts, unsettling scares, and—like THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL—gorgeous cinematography makes this an exciting and genre bending haunted house film. THE INNKEEPERS made a splash at SXSW and we are very excited to welcome West back to Fantastic Fest. (Brian Salisbury)

Presented by DARK SKY ENTERTAINMENT