Drowning in debt, a teacher considers herself fortunate when she inherits an abandoned Wisconsin lakefront inn. She brings along some prospective buyers to the empty place, looking to offload the property right-quick. There’s a delightful gay couple that owns a pizza franchise (Nine and counting), a cold French chick (well, she has a French last name), a water park owner from Minnesota and a real prick named Donovan. They all hop in Mara’s minivan to check out the place along with Mara (obviously), who’s never seen the joint. Too bad about all them ghosts. The bridge in to the place is out so the group ends up marching through the woods with no phone reception. Instead of looking like an obviously haunted crap-shack, the house is a big-ass comfy lookin’ building that is definitely creepier on the inside. With only a few hours until they have to leave, the group separate to check around. It’s in surprisingly good shape for something that has been empty for at least five years and Mara has no idea why her father left it to her, she’s never talked to the man and her mother never filled in any blanks before she passed away eight years ago. As usual, it all starts with whispers from empty rooms and the sound of children whimpering, luring people into the dark corners of long-vacant halls. When the French (last name) woman sees a child that vanishes, one of the pizza boys, Dex (he being a paranormal enthusiast), lets them know the spot is supposedly one of the most haunted places in the country. It doesn’t matter because Mara reminds them it’s time to leave… it’s just that Minnesota Nikki is not with the group. Nope, she’s taking photographs and following noises to a spooky attic (it leads to a cheap but well-executed photo scare). Nikki won’t be making it back to Minnesota and that forces the group to spread out and try to find her. That’s good news for the evil entity laying claim to the building. Mara makes the executive decision to leave without Nikki and just calling for help when they get a phone signal, but the car is gone when they make it back to where it should be. Out of options, they head back to the creepy-ass inn. Dex shares the legend of The Headmistress with the group, the “off” twin sister of a real estate tycoon who ran a boarding school which is supposedly where they are now. The brother would abuse the female students and when she interfered with his sleazy shenanigans, he raped and beat her almost to death. The Headmistress had a baby, which made her happy, but the brother took the child and left. The sister eventually snapped and began to torture and neglect her own students. Even sewing their mouths and eyes shut if they offended her. The children eventually all died and The Headmistress killed herself to continue torturing them in the afterlife. So, everyone is spooked as they head off to bed. Not much sleep happens. Ghosts are encountered, possession takes place and lives are lost. Mara knows more than she’s letting on and something awful is waiting in the attic. Simple story (I love local folklore), solid cast and a creepy-enough spooker make this way better than it should be. I’m also a homer for Wisconsin’s genre output so this hit a real sweet spot. Ignore the shaky digital effects, questionable editing choices and the slight pacing issues. Just enjoy the fact the film finds a reason for its cast to wander around the dark place using lanterns and for a young lady to inexplicably enter a creepy church in her underwear.
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