The Innkeepers has been generating plenty of buzz since it festival showings last year. Horror fans looking to catch it out can watch it now on VOD or see it during its limited theatrical run early next month. I had a chance to catch up with director Ti West and learned about his inspiration for the film, whether or not he believes in ghosts, and his feelings on supporting independent horror.
I understand that The Innkeepers was inspired by a hotel you stayed in during the filming of The House of the Devil. Can you tell me how the story of The Innkeepers came to be?
Ti West: When we filmed The House of the Devil, we stayed at the Yankee Pedlar because it was a cheap place to house the crew. We would drive 30 minutes out in the middle of nowhere to shoot this satanic horror movie, but weirder things started happening back at the hotel.
The whole town, including the people who work at the hotel, think it’s haunted, and slowly our cast and crew started to believe it was haunted as well. I didn’t really think much of it at the time and played it off as just weird happenings during the making of the film. A year later, I wanted to make a ghost movie, and I was trying to think of an idea. It occurred to me that I lived one, so maybe I should just write that. The Innkeepers became this weird personal movie about the Yankee Pedlar and we went back to the real hotel to shoot the movie. I can’t imagine that happens often or will ever happen to me again, but it was a surreal way to do it.
It adds something to the film, because those watching it know that it might actually be haunted.
Ti West: Yeah, I don’t believe in ghosts, but anyone who believes and has stayed there is convinced that the place is really haunted. It’s the closest I’ve ever come… It’s a weird place…
This skepticism is something that you’ve also written into the film. Both skeptics and believers can watch The Innkeepers and take something from it.
Ti West: I worked hard at making sure there are two clear ways to look at the movie. You can watch this as a skeptic and see it as these characters obsessing over something and getting in over their head. Their paranoia brings about more paranoia, which leads to them making mistakes. It also leads to those bad situations which ultimately happen in the end. Or you can watch this as if the ghosts are real and all of this is something that is meant to be. I like the idea that you can leave the movie with a friend and have very clean cut arguments
That’s something that I encountered during a discussion I had with someone about the film. We each had two very different interpretations of what transpired at the end.
Ti West: That’s exciting, because I don’t want to make a movie that’s all surface level. That’s boring and I want to make a movie where people notice extra details when they watch it for a second time. Those are the kinds of movies I like to go see. As a filmmaker, that’s what I’m interested in doing and what I hope people feel.
Did you make any changes to the hotel before filming?
Ti West: I thought we’d just start shooting when we walked in, but we actually changed a lot. With that being said, if you walked into the hotel right now, you’d think we changed absolutely nothing. The things that we changed were so subtle and the vibe was not altered at all. It was all little things, like the wall color, but it ended up being a lot of production work. I think it’s all very invisible and the hotel ended up keeping many of the changes.
With the entire production taking place in the hotel, was it a quick shoot?
Ti West: It was incredibly fast. We finished in 17 days, which if I hadn’t done it myself, I wouldn’t have even thought it was possible. I spent 18 days on The House of the Devil, but we had at least 3 weeks of prep work, where we only had 8 days on The Innkeepers.
The Innkeepers was 10 pages longer than The House of the Devil and had much more dialogue. In The House of the Devil, there was a lot of time walking around the house, which racks up a lot of running time. With The Innkeepers, we had to shoot 10 pages a day, but we finished early every day. As much as it was the shortest shoot ever, it was the easiest shoot ever.
I think that because The House of the Devil was such a technical disaster and everything that could go wrong did go wrong, this was some kind of karmic payback.
Pat Healy and Sarah Paxton had great chemistry in this film. What was your inspiration for their characters?
Ti West: I joke and say that I’m capable of directing movies or being a busboy. I don’t have any intermediate skills. I spent ten years of my life working every kind of minimum wage job and as much as I don’t want to go back to it, I’m very fond of it. I’m forever charmed by that weird work world where you have work friends, but they aren’t your real friends. You spend so much time with them that you cultivate these relationships. I hope that having done it so long, that I was able to write it very accurately.
It’s really a testament to Pat and Sarah, because you’d probably think they rehearsed a lot, but they literally met the night before we started shooting. Our fingers were crossed that they would get along and this really worked out. They probably talked for less than an hour before we started shooting.
Can you tell me about Kelly McGillis joining the cast? I understand her role was difficult to cast.
Ti West: We went out to different actresses with that role and I thought it would take 2 seconds to cast, but we kept getting all of these rejections. They would say, “how dare you ask us to play this ‘has been’?”, but the character is not a “has been”. She just moved to something she cares more about.
What I didn’t understand is that many older actresses don’t have a sense of humor about being an older actress. That was a weird curve ball, but Pete [producer] had worked with Kelly on Stake Land earlier and introduced us. When I started talking to her, I was being really delicate about the role, but she wasn’t sensitive at all and had a good sense of humor about it. It wasn’t my intention, but I think it hit too close to home for some people.
The Innkeepers doesn’t use CGI. Is this something you’re taking a stand against or would you use it in future films?
Ti West: The film is complete practical. I don’t necessarily have a “no CG” stance, but we don’t have a lot of money to make these movies. I have two excellent practical effect artists, so I have no doubt that I can pull off almost any practical effect. I also like practical effects because there’s something organic about actually filming it.
With that being said, I don’t have a CG guy and we don’t have the money to go to ILM or Weta. I’m not anti-CG as a cause, but I haven’t felt like I can do it really well and there is nothing worse than bad CG. In the future, I’d love to really blow something up. In The House of the Devil, the house was supposed to burn down, but we couldn’t afford to actually burn it down. I didn’t feel confident that it would look good with CG, so I didn’t do it. Bad CG really takes you out of the movie.
Recently, you posted a letter on piracy and encouraged fans to support your work and independent filmmaking. Since the release of your letter, is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers and your fans about your stance on piracy?
Ti West: I think it isn’t as much about stealing as much as it is supporting. It doesn’t have to be my movie, but everyone has something they like and to not outwardly support that is lazy. You make a statement by what you support and now is the time to really step up. Say what you like and what you want to see more of. I think of independent film as more of a culture and a lifestyle, than an industry. It is important to continue that and be vocal.
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I want to thank Ti West for taking the time to talk with me about The Innkeepers. You can learn more about the film and it's upcoming theatrical release below:
Release date: Available now on VOD & In Theaters Feb 3rd
Synopsis: From director Ti West (The House of the Devil) comes THE INNKEEPERS. Set in the venerable Yankee Pedlar Inn, which is about to shut its doors for good after over a century of service. Believed by many to be one of New England’s “most haunted hotels,” the last remaining employees -Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy)- are determined to uncover proof before it shuts down for good. As the Inn’s final days draw near, odd guests check in as the pair of minimum wage “ghost hunters” begin to experience strange and alarming events that may ultimately cause them to be mere footnotes in the hotel’s long unexplained history.
Find the film On-Demand: http://www.magpictures.com/ondemand/
Artwork, trailer, theatre listings: http://www.magpictures.com/profile.aspx?id=939e55ec-8000-4e6d-8dae-199c51953a77
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