'Kill List'

It’s the aftershock that kills you.

Emotional tremors have clearly been rocking the lives of Jay (Neil Maskell) and Shel (MyAnna Buring) for some time, probably years before the beginning of Kill List, directed by Ben Wheatley. Their marriage is fraying at the edges and seems likely to unravel completely after Jay erupts at a small dinner party, causing an earthquake of epic proportions, relatively speaking.

And that’s a dangerous thing, because Jay is a hit man.

Like Down Terrace, Wheatley’s directorial debut, Kill List develops in an unexpected fashion. The narrative rhythms quickly jump off the beaten path, so the viewer has to negotiate the ups and downs experienced by the characters without conventional guardrails. It’s akin to walking into a cavern without guide lines and a faltering headlamp.

Whereas Down Terrace mixed dark humor with its criminal elements, Kill Listintentionally offers little in the way of comic relief, instead focusing on the domestic strain — Jay and Shel also have a young son — and on the occupational hazards that come with Jay’s job.Jay is partnered with best friend Gal (Michael Smiley) on their assignments, with one dealing with the target, and the other other handling security. Gal and his girlfriend Fiona (Emma Fryer) are the only others present for Jay’s meltdown, an explosion that’s met with the requisite awkwardness and uncomfortable conversations. Oddly enough, however, we also see Fiona taking down a picture in Jay and Shel’s place, and drawing a symbol on the back before replacing it. Shortly thereafter, Fiona breaks up with Gal, which leaves him devastated.

That’s nothing compared with Jay’s increasingly violent actions. Bearing in mind that he is a paid killer, the escalating violence has more to do with how he’s carrying out his duties, and that violence is explicitly depicted in graphic, bloody, and painful scenes.

Jay and Gal are not John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, gabbing about drugs and royale with cheese and toes. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Instead, Jay and Gal are purposeful and efficient, which presents challenges when Jay heads off the reservation in his vicious attacks.

It’s all part of a lengthy lead up and, eventually, further activities that justify slotting Kill List in a midnight slot at a film festival.

Kill List is a film that almost certainly demands and will reward a second viewing, if nothing else to fully appreciate what Wheatley is doing here, combining a seething dramatic atmosphere where naturalistic conversational exchanges arise, with blunt passion and actions that reflect the inner turmoil of the characters.

And a killer ending.

[Kill List opens today at the Texas Theatre. Review originally published at Twitch.]

Woody Harrelson in 'Rampart' (Millenium Ent.)

Here lies corruption.

In Oren Moverman’s edgy drama ‘Rampart,’ boasting a screenplay credited to Moverman and crime novelist James Ellroy, Woody Harrelson stars as Dave Brown, a veteran officer in the Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. (Yes, that’s the infamous division where corruption is alleged to have been widespread in the late 1990s.) The movie is set in supposedly post-scandal 1999, during a short period of time in which Dave seems determined to create a new one-man wave of corruption.

In the opening scene, he displays a rancid, misogynistic attitude toward a female rookie officer, and then quickly demonstrates that he has no hesitation about savagely beating a handcuffed suspect to obtain information. He’s got 24 years on the job, and he’s not about to change his ways.

Like all good-looking, physically-fit scumbags, Dave is catnip to the ladies. He has two ex-wives, Barbara (Cynthia Nixon) and Catherine (Anne Heche), who are sisters and live on the same property. Barbara lives in the main house with her rebellious teenage daughter Helen (Brie Larson), with Catherine tucked away in the guest house with young Margaret (Sammy Boyarsky). Dave bounces around between them all, in some kind of misguided attempt to maintain control over a domestic situation that is steadily slipping through his fingers.

When his ex-wives resist his sexual overtures, he satisfies his needs with women he easily picks up at bars. He’s an equal opportunity sexual shark, open to ladies of color as well as Caucasian women.

When he’s the victim of an automobile accident while on duty, his instincts kick in and he beats up the other motorist. Unfortunately for Dave, his attack is caught on tape, leading to a downward spiral as the law-enforcement dinosaur sees his options in life starting to shut tight on him.

Dave claims that he’s doing “the people’s dirty work,” but there’s no evidence that he’s doing anything of the sort; all we witness him doing is beating people up and trying to save his own skin. He has an expanded knowledge of the law, which evidently came from studying to become a lawyer, so he’s well-acquainted with legal justifications for his actions. But he’s irritatingly smug about it, and, in general, is repellant for anyone who doesn’t want to sleep with him. And he’s wearing out his welcome with them, too.

His downward spiral accelerates throughout the film, leaving a greasy residue that is certainly memorable; Harrelson is top-notch in the role. But it all feels too familiar and one-note in its harsh pessimism, rubbing our noses in filth over and over again for nearly 100 minutes. Harrelson is so convincingly vile that his mere presence becomes oppresive, transforming the film into an endurance test.

The supporting cast is superb, featuring Ned Beatty as a retired corrupt cop, Robin Wright as an attorney who is perversely attracted to Dave, and Sigourney Weaver and Steve Buscemi as unsympathetic politicians. Beatty and Weaver are especially good.

Moverman is a good director, but by remaining so relentlessly focused on a single character, the movie provides no context for his actions and certainly no enlightenment about the culture of corruption that engulfed the Rampart Division. That makes it difficult to recommend ‘Rampart.’

‘Rampart’ opens tomorrow at Angelika Dallas.

'The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore'

Ah, the Oscar-nominated shorts! How I look forward each year to seeing them — and be assured that, for once, my scribblings contain not a single iota of irony.

The Oscar shorts program annually showcases the best of both animated and live action films, typically of no more than 30 minutes in length, with the animated films generally trending closer to five or ten minutes in length.

This year’s crop of shorts can be seen at Dallas’ Landmark Magnolia, and kudos to them for providing one of the few opportunities to see them on the big screen before Academy Awards time.

Here are capsule reviews (observations, if you will) about each of the shorts in the two categories. NOTE that there is also a set of Academy Award-nominated documentary shorts, which will be playing separately at the Texas Theatre, starting on February 19.

LIVE ACTION

Raju (German with English subtitles)
A German couple travels to India to adopt an orphaned child and take him into their European household. All goes well until Dad takes the young boy for a stroll around the seedy looking Delhi neighborhood; then events take a nightmarish turn as the boy disappears. But all is not what it seems. The action is presented documentary style as the new adoptive father prowls the streets looking for Raju – and for answers. We are eventually forced to ask ourselves the question: where is the higher moral ground here? And what is the right thing to do — for Raju?

Pentecost
A comical tale about a failed Irish altar boy whose focus is more on football finals than his assigned duty wielding the censor in high mass. The priest’s pep talk before the big game — er, I mean the mass — is done with tongue firmly in cheek.

“Let’s see some grace, some vision – go out there and have the mass of your lives.”

Timefreak
Slacker dude and would-be quantum physicist Stillman has made a scientific breakthrough — from his cluttered garage workshop. But when he lets his best friend in on the details, a startling revelation about where he’s been traveling in time comes to light. This plays like Groundhog Day done short and sweet, and asks the question: How far would you go to do your friend a solid? (How far in time, I mean.) Obsessives will relate.

“So, you built  a time machine, and you’ve been traveling around yesterday?”

Tuba Atlantic (Norwegian with English subtitles)
A crusty, curmudgeonly Norwegian bachelor farmer has six days to live, says his doctor. (Yes, exactly six.) In order to enjoy his final days in the comfort of his seaside home, he’ll need a companion to monitor over his progress (says the government). Enter a pert and extremely annoying blond angel of death named Inger, who learns that there are many ways to murder seagulls. (Machine guns, dynamite and washing machines, to name a few.)

The Shore
An unassuming, almost inconsequential half-hour story filmed on the green, green tidal shores of Northern Ireland. Two old friends whose lives took radically different courses come together again after 25 years. Ciaran Hinds stars as a former IRA man who immigrated to America — when he returns to his homeland, he has his lovely daughter in tow, and quite a backstory to tell. A case of mistaken identity leads to hilarious results; then mistaken motivations result in an emotional reunion.

ANIMATED

La Luna
This magical Pixar-produced fantasy tale presents us with three generations of fishermen in one rowboat, on a sea of dreams. It’s not fish they’re going after, but star stuff. Complete with an engaging starry-eyed little boy and a ladder to the moon. Stylish design – artistic composition – a joy to behold. Don’t ask what language they’re speaking — think the Swedish Chef and you’ll get the idea.

A Morning Stroll
Presented in vintage line-drawn animation look and accompanied by a jazzy score, this odd story spans several decades to tell the story of a pet chicken who startles passersby as he (or she) ambles down a busy urban sidewalk and then pecks at the door of a flat to be let in. Look out for 2059, where zombies appear to hold sway on the populace.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (pictured above)
A phantasmagorical celebration of the printed page, and a paean to those singular individuals who devote their lives to them. Literally. Features gorgeous traveling camera effects. Sure to elicit a sympathetic sniffle from librarians and bibliophiles everywhere. (Kindle users need not apply.)

Dimanche/Sunday
Charming, naive, childlike animated art is employed to tell this whimsical slice of life story about a little boy forced to spend his Sunday going to church and then struggling through a visit to his grandparents’ house. Here, he discovers that bears mounted on the mantlepiece still have some life in them, and that life is permeated with glimpses of death. (In an interesting way.) Three squawking crows make for a fine Greek chorus.

Wild Life
Tells the tale of a dandified Englishman who decamps to early 20th century Canada — a land of rugged adventure — to try his hand at ranching. Glowing, shimmering impressionist animation highlights this surprisingly melancholy story. The significance of a cryptic comet backstory remains clouded ’til the bitter end. A very moving piece of work. “A’fore too long, I shall be as rough as a cowboy.”

The Oscar Nominated Short Films programs — separate admission for Live Action and Animated — is now playing exclusively at Landmark Magnolia for a limited engagement.

Patricio Guzman's 'Nostalgia for the Light' (Thin Line Film Fest)

Our very own all-documentary film festival — to be fair, Denton deserves the credit — starts tonight. Here’s the article I wrote for Twitch:

North of Dallas, Texas, lies the college town of Denton, where more than 100,000 people go to sleep at night, wondering if Bonnie and Clyde will ever return. The 1967 film version of their lives was partially shot in Denton, where the outlaws once hid out. Nowadays, film buffs who are fascinated by real life stories gravitate toward documentaries, and Denton’s own Thin Line Film Fest has a dandy, 11-day program that’s filled with nothing but documentaries. It’s set to start rolling out tomorrow.

To quote from the press release, the fest kicks off Friday night “with the Texas premiere of Battle for Brooklyn with Director and Producer Suki Hawley in attendance. …

“On Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:30 pm at the Square Donut Theater, the film Kaziah the Goat Woman will screen. The film is about a woman (Kaziah) who for the last few years has painted works of fallen soldiers to give to their families. Three paintings for two DFW families, who will be in attendance, will be presented to them during the screening on behalf of the artist.

“On Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 7:00p, Brilliant Life tells the story of Barry Weatherall, a plumber who was completely blinded when a chemical mixture exploded in his face. After years of darkness and depression, he discovers new delight in life through outdoor adventure. Both the film’s director, Marilyn Bright, and star will be in attendance.”

The picture above is from Patricio Guzman’s Nostalgia for the Light, which screens on February 16. The doc, from Chile, has received some great reviews; it “travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where atop the mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. The sky is so translucent that it allows them to see right to the boundaries of the universe.” Nostalgia for the Light also received a Honorable Mention from our own Ben Umstead as part of his “Best of 2011″ review.

Now in its fifth year, the festival has been steadily growing, expanding its program over more and more days. I’ve had to beg off from attending again this year, due to personal schedule conflicts, but what I like about the fest is that they don’t program the same films that everyone else is programming. There’s a greater focus on films from around the world, instead of just American-centric docs, which also adds to the variety on tap.

The Thin Line Film Fest is a wonderful example of a local festival that seeks to improve and expand every year. It runs through Monday, February 20, with more than 20 filmmakers scheduled to be in attendance, and deserves to be on your radar.

The Thin Line Film Festival starts tonight at various venues; check the official site for much more information.

Leila Hatami in 'A Separation' (Sony Pictures Classics)

Moments. Director / writer Asghar Farhadi understands that life is composed of moments, one following the other. Sometimes those moments lead to wonderful pleasure. Sometimes those moments lead to gut-wrenching tragedy.

A Separation, nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film, as well as for Best Original Screenplay, begins with one such moment, in which Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moadi) sit facing the camera, explaining their situation. They are married, but Simin wants a separation.

Strike that; Simin doesn’t want a separation: She wants to leave Iran and emigrate to America with her husband and teenage daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi). When pressed, she explains that she fears for Termeh’s future prospects, which she believes are limited. Simin speaks respectfully, but with great passion. Equally passionate is the argument from Nader, who insists that he must remain in Iran to care for his father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi), who is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Nader does not believe the family should be split up, and refuses to grant Simin a divorce.

Left unspoken in that initial discussion is the reality of modern-day Iran’s cultural practices and the restrictions of a strict legal system. Simin chafes under those restrictions and struggles to work within them in order to honor her own conscience. But Nader is doing the same thing. And, in her own way, so is Termeh, who is caught in the middle. If only circumstances were different, perhaps they all could achieve their goals and enjoy a happy, satisfying family life.

But they live in Iran, and the separation has far-reaching, unexpected consequences. Each moment that is depicted follows from the one before. It’s not fate that is being played out, though, it’s the reality of the lives of Simin, Nader, Termeh, and others who fall within the powerful pull of their emotional gravity.

All the drama adds up to a crushing, powerful film that placed very high in my top 10 list for 2011. Local critics had the opportunity to see A Separation early in December for awards consideration, and the film has been on my mind ever since. Highly recommended.

A Separation opens tomorrow, exclusively at the Angelika Dallas.

Daniel Radcliffe in 'The Woman in Black' (Hammer/CBS Films)

The new Hammer strikes again! And this hammerstrike packs one heck of an entertainment wallop.

We’re talking about Hammer Films, the organization that brought us such cheesy, guilty pleasure, ’50s era creepshow treats as Horror of Dracula and Revenge of Frankenstein, only to find itself increasingly less relevant as a horror film factory in an emerging era of schlock, gore and torture porn.

The semi-dormant film production company resurrected itself to wide critical and public acclaim with 2010′s Let Me In, an English-language remake of the Norwegian vampire film Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in). Let Me In was a really good movie. The Woman in Black (directed by James Watkins) is better.

Think you’re too old to feel chills running down your spine? Too jaded to discover, to your amazement, that your hair is actually standing on end? Buy a ticket to this old fashioned haunted house tour de force and prove yourself wrong. (And me right, as a happy consequence.)

Harry Potter — I mean, Daniel Radcliffe — stars as a struggling law clerk named Arthur Kipps. Kipps, a down-at-the-mouth widower with past-due bills and a son to support, accepts an assignment that finds him traveling by train to the remote seaside village of Crythin, where a wealthy and reclusive property owner has just passed away. It will be Kipps’ job to pore over the old lady’s reams of documents in order to settle the estate.

Daniel Radcliffe in 'The Woman in Black' (Hammer/CBS Films)

The documents in question are said to be found in the shunned and shuttered mansion known rather whimsically as Eel Marsh House, located at the end of a spit projecting seaward. The promontory upon which the brooding manor house stands becomes an island every time the tide comes in, making for the kind of tailor-made isolation and otherworldiness that only a devilishly clever writer could conjure up.

(Credit to Susan Hill, who authored the 1983 novel upon which the movie is based; and Jane Goldman for the screenplay; and, perhaps most of all, to the visual effects artists who make this remarkable bit of unreality look so astoundingly real.)

Upon arriving at the village of Crythin, poor Kipps must think he’s stumbled into the plot of an old Dracula movie — I mean, if he’d been born 100 years later and had occasion to actually SEE an old Dracula movie, he being a fictional character and all. See, the townsfolk treat Kipps like a visiting leper who’s lost his wits: the hotelier claims to have never received his reservation, the town lawyer hands him a slim packet of papers with the insistence that these are all the relevant documents, and the buggy driver seems intent on delivering him, posthaste and without further ado, to the train station for immediate return to London.

Only the exhorbitant fee of six shillings convinces the driver to abandon his instructions and drive Kipps to Eel Marsh House — and that degree of bribery only gets him to the front gate of the expansive property, from whence he must walk the rest of the way to the manse itself. This forced perambulation takes him past the graveyard where various members of the Drablow family have been laid to rest. And where one, in particular, hasn’t.

Ciaran Hinds in 'The Woman in Black' (Hammer/CBS Films)

The marvelously craggy Ciarán Hinds — who recently starred in another above average ghost thriller (2009′s The Eclipse) — plays Mr. Daily, a landed gentleman with the only motorcar in the county. Daily is also singular in the sense that he welcomes Kipps and becomes an ally in the lawyer’s efforts to carry out his estate-settling duties.

Janet McTeer, fresh from her stunning performance as a cross-dressing carpenter in Albert Nobbs, provides some much-needed levity in the role of Mrs. Daily. When she invites “the twins” to join Mr. Kipps and her husband at the dinner table, you will likely be surprised at who shows up. Or, at the very least, amused.

The haunting of Eel Marsh House ramps up through a series of hints and intimations of continued occupancy. Kipps, working by candelight to decode the tragic Drablow family history, experiences them as rumblings (as might be caused by disused plumbing), distant stirrings (as if from draughty windows) and faint musical susurrations. The source of the latter is revealed when Kipps finds his way into the nursery, where dozens of wind-up toy animals line the dresser tops and side tables. Seldom have closeups of toys been used to such sinister effect, as cinematographer Tim Maurice-Jones delights in transforming them into demonic villains merely through the use of extreme closeup and artful framing. And, of course, context.

Children play a key role in the events at the center of The Woman in Black: their instinctual wisdom and innate sensitivity inform an ongoing series of horrific events. Their very existence carries with it a load of potential tragedy in the lives of their parents — a potential that turns all too real, all too often for the residents of Crythin, whose misgivings about the meddlesome, inquisitive outsider end up being entiretly understandable.

In the film’s nerve-wracking climactic scenes, there’s nothing subtle or suggestive about the titular entity haunting Eel Marsh House. She (played, ironically enough, by an actress named Liz White) emerges as a full-on banshee of a spook, as visible and impactful as any of the all-too-mortal players.

Nervous Nellies and those with small children (or children on the way) would be well-advised to bypass this old school  cinematic shocker. For the rest of us, it’s a shivery treat of the highest order.

“She makes us. She  makes us.

They took her boy away and now she takes us.” – Crythin children’s chant

[The Woman in Black opens wide across the Metroplex tomorrow.]

Innocent children in 'The Woman in Black' (Hammer/CBS Films)

Wim Wenders' 'Pina' (IFC Films)

I won’t pretend that I know anything about modern dance. But even the uneducated, such as myself, have heard of Pina Bausch. And what I’ve heard about Pina, a new documentary directed by Wim Wenders, is that it is a genuine treat for dance fans, as well as those who are dragged along with them (I kid, I kid). Wenders has been regrettably uneven in his recent narrative features, but he continues to demonstrate a good eye and solid filmmaking skills in his documentaries. If you’re inclined to spend the extra coin, I’ve heard that the 3D is a worthwhile investment.

Here’s the official synopsis:

In his exhilarating new film, German master Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, The Buena Vista Social Club) shoots in 3D to capture the brilliantly inventive dance world of legendary choreographer Pina Bausch. Wenders had conceived with Bausch a dance film like none seen before, one which would take the fullest advantage yet of new 3D technology to put the viewer deep inside Bausch’s playful, thrillingly unpredictable pieces. After her untimely death in 2009, Wenders continued with the project, turning it into the most exciting tribute he could imagine. Sensual and visually stunning, PINA uses 3D to remarkable effect, taking the audience into Bausch’s work in her imaginative sets (a gliding monorail, a bare stage covered with chairs, a towering man-made waterfall) and powerfully rendering the beauty and sheer physicality of the dances and dancers of her Tanztheater Wuppertal ensemble.

Pina opens tomorrow at the Angelika Dallas (in 2D) and at Cinemark West Plano (in 3D).

Sylvester Stallone and Burgess Meredith in 'Rocky'

Contrary to popular myth, Sylvester Stallone was not a complete unknown when he played the title role in Rocky. He’d already made good impressions in Death Race 2000 and The Lords of Flatbush. But he had enough experience under his belt to know that he if wanted to break out big, he’d need to create a role that would showcase what made him unique. So he wrote a script, which people loved, and then insisted that he star in it as part of the package.

With veteran director John G. Avildsen at the helm, the result remains a completely winning film, warm and appealing, not only for its virtues in celebrating the underdog, but for its understanding that all people want to do better, even if it’s in some small way that no one else can see. In Rocky Balboa’s case, he had the unexpectedly opportunity to showcase himself to the world, and gave it his best shot. In Sylvester Stallone’s case, not only is his script a marvel of construction and character, he delivered a very strong, very relatable performance.

Put the iconic moments that have become cliches back into the context of the movie, in which a working class man recognizes that he has limitations and chooses to ignore them, and you end up with Rocky, which, doggone it, can still make you stand up and cheer, more than 35 years after it was released.

Rocky began a limited engagement at the Texas Theatre last night in 35mm and continues through Sunday.

'Chronicle' (20th Century Fox)

Three films will be opening in wide release this weekend. We’ll have a review of The Woman in Black up in due course, but in the meantime, here are brief notes on the two that we haven’t seen in advance, listed in order of priority.

• Chronicle. Teens who discover they have superpowers? Bleh. Found footage of teens who discover they have superpowers? Possibly more interesting. It’s all in the approach with this kind of thing, and the premise, at least, sounds like it has potential. Max Landis, son of director John Landis, wrote the screenplay, and Josh Trank, son of Mr. Trank (?), makes his directorial debut. The cast of unknowns adds to the intrigue.

• Big Miracle. Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski star; the official synopsis reads: “In small town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his ex-girlfriend – a Greenpeace volunteer – on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.” I’ve heard from a friend who attended an early screening, and he opined that it was not as painful as he’d feared. Which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but if you have wee little children who love whales, this might be the ticket.

Sara Paxton in 'The Innkeepers' (Magnolia Pictures)

For its first 45 minutes or so, The Innkeepers (directed and writtten by Ti West) plays like the Seinfeld of horror movies.

Which is to say, nothing much happens — forcing us to turn our attention to the quirky characters populating the film, as opposed to any sort of actual otherworldly apparitions.

Chief among the corporeal players are Luke (Pat Healy) and Claire (Sara Paxton), a pair of twenty-something college dropouts and would-be paranormal investigators. They also happen to be the resident caretakers of the locus of haunting: an historic east coast hotel called The Yankee Pedlar. Our two slacker staffers are presiding over the final days of operation of the old inn before it closes its doors forever.

Nerdy haunting-blogger Luke professes to have actually seen the establishment’s most famous ghost, Madeline O’Malley — aka The Widow — twice. Unfortunately, on both occasions he was alone and without his camera.

Manic, asthmatic, anorexic Claire envies her fellow employee’s close encounters of the spiritual kind, and is determined to make contact with the unquiet spirit before this doorway to another world begins its new life as a pile of rubble. When Luke retires to his room for the night, Claire mans the preternaturally quiet front desk, alert for any sign of spooks –  EVP recorder and microphone at the ready…

One of the hotel’s few remaining paying guests is former television actress Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), in town for a fan convention. She’s a prickly old bird who prefers keeping to her room — at least as long as the contents of the mini-bar hold out. It’s not until Claire’s first genuine paranormal encounter that we discover there’s more to this over-the-hill soap star than meets the eye.

The Innkeepers is one of those crafty, edgy, atmospheric films that develops slowly, then pulls the trigger on terror only after we’ve been lulled into a sense of complacency. There are foreshadowings of danger and doom involving shackled exits and ominous portents, and a curiously disquieting episode involving an elderly gentleman who checks into the hotel on its final night of operation, insisting to be put up in a particular room on the shuttered third floor.

Lovers of slow-boiling psychological horror — and Schlitz drinkers — will find The Innkeepers to be an offbeat treat.

Just one thing, though: don’t go into the cellar.

The Innkeepers opens tomorrow, exclusively at the Texas Theatre. Actor Pat Healy will participate in a Q&A session via Skype following the 8:00 p.m. screening on Saturday, February 4.