Vacancy
When David (Luke Wilson) and Amy Fox's (Kate Beckinsale) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, they are forced to spend the night at the only motel around, with only the TV to entertain them... until they discover that the low- budget slasher movies they're watching were all filmed in the very room they're sitting in. With hidden cameras now aimed at them - trapping them in rooms, crawlspaces, underground tunnels - and filming their every move, David and Amy must struggle to get out alive before whomever is watching them can finish their latest masterpiece.
Member Reviews
A Great Slasher Film With Surprisingly Little Slashing - revsdd
I wasn't blown away by the premise at first. A couple's car break down on a side road as they're on their way home and they take up residence for the night in a run down hotel with a creepy manager. It sounds pretty formulaic and unoriginal. In fact, it turns out to be a short, fast and pretty suspenseful movie that managed to keep me on the edge of my seat for a good portion of it.
The stars are Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson as Amy and David Fox. Their marriage is in trouble, and they end up stuck in this motel. More than a slasher film, this is actually a pretty good psychological thriller, as we watch the Foxes move from anger at each other to suspicion about the hotel to downright terror as they realize what's happening to them. Beckinsale and Wilson were convincing in their roles, and Frank Whaley as Mason, the creepy hotel manager, looked the part and acted it well. He's running some sort of ring peddling snuff movies, and all the victims are people who stay unexpectedly in his hotel and the killers, once they're introduced, are downright terrifying. Thankfully, this isn't just a giant bloodbath from start to finish. Actually, until the last 20 minutes or so, there really isn't much blood; it all focuses around the Fox's terror at the predicament they've found themselves in. One criticism (or plot oversight) was how Mason and his gang planned to deal with the murder of the police officer. The police know they dispatched an officer to the hotel. Do they think no one will notice that he's suddenly missing after responding to a 911 call at the hotel in which the person making the call (Amy) said that someone was trying to kill her? Surely that would lead to questions and snooping by the local sheriff.
That aside, this is a truly fabulous ride, and a complete surprise to me. Highly recommended.An Effective Horror That Will Make You Jump. - JasonTHX
I thought I knew what to expect from "Vacancy" the new horror movie by Nimrod Antal (Kontroll).
After the sludge that characterized the recent "Texas Chainsaw" movies I expected this to be along those dreary lines. Surprisingly this is nothing like that. From it's 1960's style Saul Bass opening credit sequence accompanied by a Bernard Herrman-esque score "Vacancy" sets it's self apart from the "Saw" and "Hostel" torture-porn movies of today.
Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale add class to this movie by playing David And Amy - a married couple who bicker because they can no longer stand to be with each other following the loss of their son. Spitting insults and barbs at each other the 2 become stranded and wind up spending a night in a roach-infested cruddy hotel that looks like it hasn't been cleaned since 1981. After popping in a stray videotape (you can tell it's a fleabag place because it hasn't gone digital, yet) the couple watch what appear to be snuff movies with brutal attacks and kills taped in the room they are in. Realising they are trapped they discover that they are to be the next victims. That sets up the movie in which terror is the object of the night. "Vacancy" is a true in-your-face, grimy little thriller that generates some real jumps and scares.
Wilson and Beckinsale are effective as the terrorized couple. Also good is the great Frank Whaley as the slithery, owner of the hotel. The movie looks appropriately underlt and grimy by the great cinematographer Andrzej Sekula ("Pulp Fiction", "Reservoir Dogs").
A few cliches pop up here and there - the arguing couple realize they still love each other - and usually when they say that in Horror movies one of them (or both) will end up dead before long. And the oddball Hotel manager reminded me of the greasy backroads hick that Billy-Bob Thornton played in Oliver Stone's "U-Turn".
Still "Vacancy" is a major step up from the junk that Hollywood is calling "Horror" todaySurprisingly good and scary - LandPhil
I just saw this last night with my wife and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how scary it was at times. The best scenes are with the couple trapped in the room, getting freaked out by the banging doors, ringing phone and the snuff films on the TV. It's not like it's the most original horror flick around but the director did a great job at setting it up and using sound and light to make the movie scary. The acting was good. Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson did a great job of being a believable divorcing couple who clearly have problems without it being cheesy. Definitely better than a lot of the horror/scary movies coming out these days.
Member Reviews
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A Great Slasher Film With Surprisingly Little Slashing - revsdd
I wasn't blown away by the premise at first. A couple's car break down on a side road as they're on their way home and they take up residence for the night in a run down hotel with a creepy manager. It sounds pretty formulaic and unoriginal. In fact, it turns ...An Effective Horror That Will Make You Jump. - JasonTHX
I thought I knew what to expect from "Vacancy" the new horror movie by Nimrod Antal (Kontroll).
After the sludge that characterized the recent "Texas Chainsaw" movies I expected this to be along those dreary lines. Surprisingly this is nothing like that. ...Surprisingly good and scary - LandPhil
I just saw this last night with my wife and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how scary it was at times. The best scenes are with the couple trapped in the room, getting freaked out by the banging doors, ringing phone and the snuff films on the TV. ...