My use
of the Oscar Wilde quote will become apparent.
It was recently suggested to me
that the 2011 movie The Innkeepers is
better than Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining,
released in the United States on May 23, 1980.
Like Jack Nicholson, in The Shining, my reaction to that suggestion is ...
(keep watching - it's animated!)
I have a
great idea!
Take Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1980 movie adaptation of Stephen
King’s novel: The Shining …
... shorten
it by about an hour … give it a feeble script … characters we know little about
and couldn’t care less for … make it devoid of atmosphere, tension and suspense
… throw in a bunch of superfluous other characters who pad it out, but add little
or nothing to the proceedings … have it plod along painfully slowly – leading to
nothing of any real consequence … and you have … The Innkeepers!
With stories of this genre, the environment is the
compelling element: a haunted house, hotel, or cabin in the woods, a ship
adrift at sea – or out in the vastness of space … the setting gives the story
its eerie build up.
I credit The
Innkeepers’ attention to that detail with its long corridors and winding
staircase, but it’s the only real credit I can give it.
I have a problem with
stories that just seem way too familiar, and watching The Innkeepers left me with the feeling that it was simply another
pointless rehash of The Shining.
I’ve
read other reviews, and I know The
Innkeepers has its fans.
I’m not one of them.
When does the line between homage
fade to insipid imitation?
Instead of simply retreading old ground, why not
show some originality?
Put more effort into writing a fuller story; develop the
characters by giving them a history – giving us a reason to care about them.
As
to the question of The Innkeepers being,
putting it mildly, at least similar to The
Shining …
What else am I supposed to think when the high-angle exterior
shot of The Yankee Pedlar Inn, from The Innkeepers …
… reminds me of the Overlook Hotel, in The Shining:
Claire (Sara Paxton), resting on a bed watching TV, in The Innkeepers …
… reminds me of the scene
with Halloran (Scatman Crothers), in The
Shining:
Claire, falling asleep while working, in The Innkeepers …
… reminds me of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in The Shining:
Low angle corridor shots, in
The Innkeepers …
… reminds me of those, in The Shining:
The cavernous dining/ballroom,
in The Innkeepers …
… reminds me of
that, in The Shining:
The lounge area,
in The Innkeepers …
… reminds me of that,
in The Shining:
The bathtub suicide,
in The Innkeepers …
… reminds me of
that, in The Shining:
The malevolent
force making itself apparent, in The
Innkeepers …
… reminds me of those great scenes, in The Shining:
I didn’t see anything new or interesting with The Innkeepers; it left me feeling that
I’d seen it all done way better in The
Shining.
Oscar Wilde wrote:
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that
mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
As imitation often seems to be the order of
the day, and if I could have had final
say over The Innkeepers, prior to its
release, I would have happily imitated Jack Nicholson in The Shining:
I would have swept the whole pile off of the table ...
... then I would have taken an ax to it!
