Or maybe it's because when they make it so clear that their goal is to frighten me, my pride can't stand that sort of manipulation. So I sit stubbornly, arms crossed through the whole picture, determined to be bored to death before I'm scared to death, and thus determined to make the movie a failure.

Upon seeing the film’s title, I couldn't resist a little snarky speculation on the plot of The Inkeepers. I expected a couple of teenagers to show up at an isolated, old-timey motel in the woods and get terrorized by its creepy, geriatric staff, who turn out to be demons or something like that.

Turns out I was wrong about everything but the old-timey motel. Twenty-somethings Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are the only two employees working at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, which is a week from going belly-up, in the middle of Anytown, USA.

They also fancy themselves a couple of amateur ghost-hunters. Luke even hosts his own Angelfire website (complete with traffic counter) documenting the spooks he's witnessed.

Each familiar with the oft told local bedtime story of the woman who checked in to the Pedlar but never checked out, they hope to use Luke's equipment to record some evidence of her hauntings before the motel shuts its doors for the last time.

Among the Pedlar's final few guests is Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), who is in town to give a seminar about contacting those on the other side. When Claire asks her for help contacting the motel's eternal guest, she performs a seance and warns Claire that she is in danger and must not continue chasing the spirit.

While working on the 2009 film, The House of the Devil, writer-director Ti West actually stayed at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, and the whisperings from his crew about supernatural occurrences inspired him to write the film.

The unnerving aura about the inn that West manages to capture provides the film's most memorable feature. I'll admit, despite the plot and the scare tactics feeling a little familiar, Paxton and Healy's performances (including her total indifference to his awkward flirting) had me charmed from beginning to end.

However, it proves difficult to become totally enveloped by the disturbing proceedings when both the characters and director take such a casual attitude. Rather than descending to a place of true discomfort, we find ourselves buoyantly lingering on the surface.

However much I was entertained on the first go-round, the basic and practical direction would doubtfully draw out further richness from repeated viewings. If you're a horror movie fan, you'd be wise to buy a ticket.

You can be sure to feel vastly more impressed than you were by The Devil Inside. The Innkeepers is certainly not The Shining, but Ti West actually knows how to make a movie.