Vacancy (2007) Movie Information:

Vacancy (2007) Directed by: Nimrod Antal Vacancy (2007) Written by: Mark L. Smith Vacancy (2007) Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley

Vacancy (2007) U.S. Distributor: Screen Gems Vacancy (2007) U.K. Distributor: Sony Pictures

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Vacancy (2007) Synopsis:

Vacancy follows a young married couple who become stranded at a desolate motel and realize that their lives could be in danger.

Vacancy (2007) Movie Review:

With the recent entourage of gore-fest torture horror films in the last year, it is refreshing to sit through a tense old-school thriller like Vacancy. Though flawed and muddled with a typical ending, the film, much like the recent Disturbia, relies solely on suspense to keep the audience’s interest.

The story centers on the couple of Amy (Kate Beckinsale) and David Fox (Luke Wilson) as they become stranded in the middle of nowhere due to car trouble. Their relationship is rocked with tragedy, which has led both on the edge of divorce. The two leave their abandoned car and stumble upon a sleazy motel that is run by a very odd and questionable manager named Mason (Frank Whaley). Against Amy wishes, David checks them into a room for the night, and plans to get his car to a nearby garage first thing in the morning. Mason informs them that they are the only guests for the evening and that he hopes they enjoy their stay.

Once in their room, Amy and David begin to bicker more and more, mostly due to that their room looks like it is from the 70’s and has not been cleaned since the 70’s. With no cable for the television, David begins popping in videotapes that he finds on top of a VCR. The tapes are of snuff films, in which two masked vigilantes are the stars. Looking closer at the film, David realizes that the settings for these murderous acts are actually the room that he and is wife are staying. Shortly afterwards, he finds that they are being video taped, then the power goes out, and the masked men arrive.

What ensues is a timid, quick thriller, in which an ordinary couple attempts to escape, but it always seems that the killers are one step ahead or right behind them. Director Nimrod Antal does not delay for any duration, once the film starts rolling, it never lets up. He uses point of view shots and multiple angles, and terrific lighting to capture the tense nature of this film. Though not gory, and only containing a small amount of blood, the film solely relies on its pacing to deliver the thrills. Antal homages old tricks to the 1970’s thriller genre and even at times to Hitchcock. The best parts of the film are actually when there is no dialogue, just the audience playing the waiting game along with Amy and David while they are sweating and breathing fiercely. Examples are patiently staged sequences in an underground tunnel and the moment after the electricity in their room begins to turn on and off. Mark L. Smith’s script is tight until the final act stumbles and never recovers. The ending actions of the film are so generic that it seems that writer himself ran out of breath while developing the last few pages of the script. The character development is not something that is extremely necessary, but the hotel manager of Mason is supplemented as comic relief and menacing, but he is actually neither. The setup for the thriller is simple and genuine, which is also its strength in the hands of a solid filmmaker like Antal.

Luke Wilson takes a different approach from his comedic side to playing the startled David and Kate Beckinsale delivers the usual good, but not great work as his wife Amy. Frank Whaley chews the scenery and is so over the top as the obscure hotel manager Mason. The only other actors actually in the film are the masked vigilantes, one which is played by Ethan Embry.

Though troubled, Vacancy is actually a thriller that thrills. It relies on technique and execution, rather than blood and gore like most of the other recent Hollywood thrillers. It is also works to an audience, because most people have one time or another stayed in a hotel that was not up to normal standards and had questionable vibe to it.

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Vacancy (2007) review written by: Bailey Henderson