From the Alfred Hitchcock like opening credits and the deliberately
Psycho-style motel, it's clear whose work has influenced screenwriter Mark Smith and Hungarian director Nimrod Antal, but unfortunately their movie Vacancy is an extremely pale imitation of what the great man could produce and is just another of those modern day thrillers that totally misses the point. Infact, it's so redundant and so diet-Hitchcock, that you craving for some good scare calories and thrilling fat filled moments to inject some energy into this flick, which is just about the most lackluster I've seen in the genre for some time. The simple premise see's a monotone Luke Wilson and the mis-cast Kate Beckinsale as a recently divorced and bickering couple who get lost on a small road off the Interstate late at night. Of course it doesn't take long until their car breaks-down and they find themselves looking for a room in a beaten down and grotty EMPTY motel, which has the crooked sign and the weird guy behind the desk (Frank Whaley, who played Brett in Pulp Fiction) and because they obviously haven't seen a horror film before in their lives, they stupidly decide to take up a room. Just one of the many mistakes this couple will make in order for the film's running time to be longer than the 5 minutes it should have been. Of course the so called 'hook' of vacancy is that the couple find tapes in the room from several snuff films shot in the very room they are staying in, and it doesn't take long from them to find the camera's recording their every movements. They now have to avoid being killed like the those unfortunate victims they see in their tapes, and try to survive this night of terror.
It's not the worst premise I've ever heard and you would think that the talent behind the camera would be able to get a few scares out of it but sadly this horror film chugs along in a fairly soft manner. It's never boring, it's never really dull... but there's no scares or moments of tension, and the film is surprisingly vacant of the cheap gimmicks to make you jump out of your seat. Sadly, Beckinsale and Wilson have absolutely no chemistry together and their interactions with each other feel forced and several attempts from screenwriter Smith to add some backstory to these characters or to flesh them out are painfully stagnate. Vacancy is a huge mis-step in both actor's careers (Sarah Jessica Parker was once attached and boy did she dodge a bullet here) and if I ever see them attempt to do a horror film again it will be too soon. At 88 minutes, I won't argue that the film outstays it's welcome but the last 10 minutes or so are the worst bits of what is a rather undercooked film that long lost any tension it had, and though I wasn't watching this movie with an audience, I can just 100% guarantee that the ending in theatres came with a big groan. Vacancy is a lazy effort from all those involved and despite a few rare moments of slick direction from Antal, you really have to wonder how such a vacantly bland film and less than thrilling 'thriller' ever got made. Feature film rating (2 out of 5)
EXTRA'S
Alternative opening sequence:
A long take which looks one-shot, which actually shows us the aftermath of the events in the film and was probably changed from the final reel because it takes a way a little of the fun of guessing how the movie will end up. It's nicely directed but lasts around 30 seconds, and is a nice and interesting extra but an audio commentary telling us why it wasn't chosen would have been nice. (2 out of 5 stars)
Checking In: The Case and Crew of Vacancy:
A behind-the-scenes vignette and a post-discussion from the cast and crew telling us why they decided to do the movie and why they chose to direct it the way they did. Beckinsale, Wilson, the writer, the producers and director all have something to say. Their attempts to explain that Beckinsale and Wilson actually have characters in the film are commendable but severely lacking evidence. To see how they shot the Snuff films for the feature was fascinating and it's probably the most effective part of the film in truth. It's a nice feature to the set and it makes the film sound better than it actually was, which is an achievement. (4 out of 5 stars)
Mason's Video: Extended Snuff Films
Nice feature showing us the 'snuff' films shot on their own without any sound gimmicks or even dialogue. Interesting but I think after a few moments you will probably be reaching for the remote. (2 out of 5 stars) Racoon Encounter Basically a deleted scene from the film, showing us Luke Wilson's encounter with the racoon. It looks like the director didn't cut much out of the film from the final print, but this one is one that we really didn't need in the movie. (2 out of 5 stars).
Trailers
We have trailers for Spider-Man 3, Walking Tall: Lone Justice (looks awful) and the rather interesting Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud (jesus!). (2 out of 5 stars)
Overall for the DVD SET (not just for the film)
rating: 2.5
The film I could only recommend to those who eat up this motel/horror genre and are fans of things like Hostel and Saw. It's only 88 minutes at length but you feel the film could have been told in 10, and you keep hoping it's going to get more interesting but it just continues to disappoint. It's a mis-step unfortunately, and although the behind-the-scenes extra is nice, it's hardly enough to warrant a purchase or maybe even a rent.
Vacancy is out now on DVD on both region 1 and region 2 formats.
