Ending of The Innkeepers

Question

In The Innkeepers (2011), Leanne Rease-Jones tried to warn Claire, and she seemed to know something crucial, but she never told the truth about what was going on. I am confused about the ending of this movie, and I'd appreciate it if someone provided a good explanation as to why Madeline O'Malley killed Claire?

Answer 1

Well, what happened is that the ghosts in the house were the two guys that killed the young woman. When the fiancée arrived at the hotel, she was already dead. The two killers made it look as though she had hung herself though, and it broke the man's heart to see his wife hanging there.

He took the blame of her death all to himself as he thought it was his fault that she hung herself, because he was late. With all that being said, it took a while for him to build up the balls to come back and kill himself to be with her.

Now the only question that remains is: why did Madeline kill the girl? Well, this is simple. The psychic told her not to go in the basement, because that is where Madeline was waiting for her husband to return. She meant no harm and all she wanted was to be left alone. "You don't disturb the dead".

If you want to find the full truth behind this masterpiece of film: Take a good look at Madeline's face. The truth lies within it.

Answer 2

If you want to find the full truth behind this masterpiece of film: Take a good look at Madeline's face. The truth lies within it.

I've watched the movie twice and I'm still trying to understand this statement. What can one derive from looking at her face. Brenda Cooney did a marvelous job playing Madeline, but there really wasn't anything a person could derive just by looking at her face.

My take was that Claire had come between her and the old man being reunited and she was exacting her revenge on Claire. Not to mention that Claire already had a breathing problem, hence the asthma emergency spritzer, and she simply died of fright.

Answer 3

It's like the orphanage, the ghosts didnt really do anything wrong....Leigh the spirtualist caught a glimpse of the future (she explained her abilities as being just that) and said she saw three spirits...one could assume this is Madeleine, her fiance who comitted suicide upstairs, and Claire herself...she was warned to stay away from the basement as Leigh foresaw her death there...but the ghosts themselve did not actually harm Claire...in fact it was only through her persistant attempts that there was any contact between them at all...she died of fright/asthma attack and Leigh's prophecy of three spirits being in the hotel was concluded!