Horror Movie Reviews
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Title: Vacancy (2007) |
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Review of Vacancy
- A suspenseful classic thriller in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale that will keep you on the edge of your seat and your heart pounding! 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 videos they find in their room 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.System Requirements:Running Time: 85 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 043396182882 Manufacturer No: 18288
Product Description
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A confined setting is a useful tool for thriller-makers, and Vacancy is definitely boxed in: a rundown motel way, way off the Interstate, the kind of place where unsuspecting movie characters go to get stabbed to death in the shower. If Vacancy doesn't quite live up to its Hitchcockian forbears, at least it provides 80 minutes of well-designed mayhem. You know somebody's paying attention just from the opening credits, a clever vortex with pounding music by Paul Haslinger. Then we meet unhappy couple Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, driving along in the dark and forced to stay at the Pinewood Motel after a car breakdown. There's a night man (Frank Whaley, decadent) in the tradition of Dennis Weaver's Touch of Evil gargoyle, but the real mess of trouble is waiting in room number 4. Director Nimrod Antal, who scored a stylish international hit with the Hungarian thriller Kontroll, squeezes maximum juice out of the Route 66 atmosphere of the motel, although the movie doesn't get under your skin the way Kontroll did. Wilson and Beckinsale are a little too marquee-namish for this kind of heavy-breathing work, and the script doesn't give them much to play with. But hey, it's not that kind of movie. Where it really belongs is on the top half of a drive-in double bill, or maybe as a nightmare-scenario TV movie from the Seventies. Either way, it works. --Robert Horton
Stills from Vacancy (click for larger image)
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Comments for Vacancy
- Posted on 2008-07-05
some good, some average
While the movie did a good job building suspense and keeping an interesting pace and story going, it lacked severely in finding new ways to scare me.
I wasn't really scared at all because I always knew what was coming up next. The only time I really felt any fear was when the couple arrived to their room and kept hearing banging sounds from the doors. After the banging kept going, I thought maybe ghosts were responsible for stirring up trouble.
After a while though, when it was discovered there were bad guys who apparently loved to kill anyone who spent the night in that room, we pretty much knew what the story was going to be about- the man and woman trying to find a way out of that place, and out of the town to get some help.
The other scary moment was when the couple found some VCR tapes near the TV, and when the husband put the tapes in and seen some frighteningly realistic things (I don't want to spoil what it was they seen) that part was good too.
Sure, there were some creative ways the couple found to avoid the killers, but it wasn't enough to make up for a rather average and obvious way to make a thriller.
Score: 3
- Posted on 2008-05-30
NIMRÓD ANTAL, OPUS 2
***1/2 2007. Directed by Nimród Antal. Lost in nowhere land, a couple stops at the Pinewood Motel. They soon understand that the man in charge is a psychopathic peeping tom. Locked in their room, Amy and David Fox must find a way out. VACANCY is a very good surprise. First of all, the film looks very professionnal with its superb opening credits. Then the first scenes in the Fox's car are a little jewel of mise-en-scene, the camera work revealing a true author/director. The rest of the film delivers some variations around Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (Collector's Edition) deserving our respect. Recommended. Yes.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-05-20
Lesson 231 Learned from horror movies: Travel with a Gun
Today's horror follows the same script nearly every time. It's the torture genre of Hostel, Saw, and a few other smaller films. Luckily, Vacancy doesn't follow that mold.
Amy Fox (Beckinsale) and Dave (Wilson) are a couple struggling in their relationship. They end up having car problems, much like Breakdown, and are forced to stay the night at the only place available, a horrible looking motel that reminded me quite a bit of Psycho. That was the first clue they overlooked. The second clue was the manager, Mason, is about as disturbing as they come. I didn't know what to expect, but if there was ever a place that videotapes you in the bathroom, it's definitely this place.
The rest of the movie plays out very well, as the couple must deal with the psychological aspects of fear, and eventually with the realistic possibilities of death.
The movie really did creep me out quite a bit. It's borderline snuff in my opinion. There are scenes in which it felt a little too real, and the voyueristic nature of the filming techniques made it that much worse. I suppose that means major kudos for Director Nimrod Antal, because I can't remember a movie that evoked real pathos for characters like this one did for me.
The extras on the disc just made it a little more appealing to me, because they made the rest of the movie feel even more like I was watching realistic snuff purchased in a back alley. Major credit goes to the actors with bit parts of victims; their videotaped encounters with the killers were incredibly despicable, and difficult to watch.
Score: 4 - Posted on 2008-05-18
David Lynch & Hitchcock Influences in this Stellar Thriller!
I felt like I had died and gone to hell in a great scary movie kind of way right from the beginning!
I'm a big fan of psychological thrillers that rely on the use of lighting, minimal dialog, silence, alienation, common phobias, and intriguing psychopaths like Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet and Anthony Perkins in psycho. My favorite setting is also used in this film- a remote, out of the way outdated motel.
This movie proves that you don't need to rely on computer tricks, soundtracks or bimbos running for their lives while flashing some T & A, although some of that is in the films in the film (you'll need to watch).
I think Frank Whaley played his role brilliantly. He was believable, dorky, intentional, comical and horrific at the same time. Think Flanders from The Simpsons gone bad.
I highly recommend this for fans of old-school suspense.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-05-01
Suprisingly good
After reading all the negative reviews and putting aside my fears of wasting my time with this film, I was actually quite surprised with how good it was. While some of it is formulaic, I believe that this "horror" movie contains two of the smartest protagonists ever. Luke Wilson's character does not act with the usual "let's separate and go into the woods" mentality. Wilson's performance was pretty good as well - quite believable. May not be for the Saw and Friday the 13th or gorefest fans - but a nice little flick which packs a couple of thriller punches. I recommend spending the 85 minutes.
Score: 4