OK but misses the mark

I can't speak highly enough of director Ti West's breakthrough movie, The House of the Devil, so my expectations were high going into The Innkeepers. I'd hoped for more of the same: a slow build-up of suspense and the kind of creepiness I'd not felt in a movie since watching Rosemary's Baby. There is some of that here, but not enough to say it's a success.

Claire and Luke work at the rundown Yankee Pedlar Inn. They are sure it is haunted and, as it will close for good, are using their final weekend shifts to find proof. You can probably guess the rest. Cue a host of jump-scares and doors slamming shut on their own.

Overall, I enjoyed it. There is a definite chemistry between the main characters -- nice but naive Claire (Sara Paxton) and deadpan drop-out Luke (Pat Healy) -- and there is a nice steady flow to the climactic scenes, but the atmosphere was lacking. Kelly McGillis as author turned psychic Leanne adds very little, and I feel the audience gets to see too much toward the end, removing any sense of dread they may have had.