Motel

Vacancy;; Vacancy opens as a typical horror film, following a soon to be divorced couple, Amy and David Fox, driving down a winding road, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. Car troubles lead them to an abandoned motel where the manager informs them the mechanic will be back early in the morning. He seems friendly at first, and offers them a discount on the Honeymoon suite. Amy is resistant, but David convinces her.

Amy's first impression of the Motel was right on target, as a series of creepy events lead David and Amy to watch a video tape in which various guests at the same hotel are murdered. Soon after, David finds hidden cameras in the vents. Suddenly, the lights go out, and David and Amy must fight to find a way to escape... or end up getting slaughtered on tape like everyone else.

I am an avid horror movie fan, although lately I have run into the problem of not getting scared during these so called "scary movies." I am pleased to report, not just to horror film fans, but movie fans alike, Vacancy is actually scary. And that is just about the biggest compliment a movie such as this could get.

Throughout the 80 minute running time of Vacancy, I jumped a few times, gasped once or twice, and had white knuckles for almost the entire time. Luke Wilson and Kate Bekinsale give good performances as the bickering victims, and direction is particularly well-done. Director Nimrod Antal makes a wise choice, veering from torture, blood and guts, and relying mostly on putting these characters we care about in taut, tense situations.

Vacancy is a fun, frightening horror movie. 3 from 4.

Amy (Kate Beckinsale) and David Fox (Luke Wilson) are returning from an arduous family reunion, on their way to Los Angeles. On their trip they encounter car problems and inevitably pull into a motel Norman Bates could feel right at home at. After some awkward exchanges with the owner, they reluctantly decide to spend the night. Upon viewing some tasteless horror films in the room, David begins to suspect their authenticity, and that these are actual murders taking place. Furthermore, he is led to believe the room that these events take place in is none other than the room they are currently residing. With this initial set-up, Vacancy wastes no time launching the audience into an engaging, gripping, and somewhat macabre story while borrowing sparingly from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and managing to side step many land mines other horror films fail to see.

Vacancy has both positives and negatives going for it, however the negatives don't seem to affect the narrative as frequently as in other films. The first thought that came to my mind was its running time. At eighty five minutes, the film may move at too brisk of a pace for some, and at times it feels like it should be part of a short horror film festival, rather than a stand alone feature film. The clichés are very apparent as well-the broken-down car, the mysterious stranger, the out-of-range cell-phone, and the creepy hotel are included, but rather than using them as a crutch for a poor script, the film seems to celebrate their existence. It epitomizes all horror films where the main characters are stranded, encounter mysterious people or creepy locations. The film also fails to successfully flush out the "snuff" film aspect that was so heavily advertised and anticipated. The screen time of these films is very limited and the focus on them is brief. They serve as an fundamental set-up, but after their initial appearance, they fall out of sight and out of mind.

What makes the film much more successful than the average "teen slasher" horror film is, ironically, the absence of teens in the film. In recent years the most successful horror films, in my opinion, like The Sixth Sense, What Lies Beneath, Stir of Echoes, and Hide and Seek all revolve around families, and in particular, the relationships between adults. In Vacancy, Amy and David are a married couple one argument away from a divorce and unlike an amorous, oblivious, teenage couple about to become mincemeat for an axe-murderer, the tension between David and Amy puts them on edge throughout the whole film and translates to tension in the audience while the film builds its suspense. The build of the film also differs from the main pattern set by modern "slasher" films. Winding like a key, the tension never lets down, and unlike the ups and downs of "slasher" films where there are multiple apexes of horror, there is a ratchet effect in Vacancy, where there is no relief and each scene is built upon the previous one. The other very obvious asset to the film is its relative lack of violence compared to most other modern horror films. In recent years, films such as the Saw series, Hostel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Hills Have Eyes have lazily resorted to the shock factor to scare their audience rather than rely on the old saying "It's not the bang that is scary, but rather, the anticipation to the bang." That's not to say that the film isn't violent free, there is some definite violence involved, but in comparison to other films it seems, dare I say, minimal or practical.

The references to Hitchcock's Psycho are refreshingly flattering rather than annoying. In Disturbia, a recent loose remake of Hitchcock's Rear Window, the similarities become annoying and the film loses its intrigue. In Vacancy, the nods to Psycho are very slight. The Pinewood Motel itself is the most obvious example which, like the Bates Motel, is in serious need of redecorating. The beginning credits also throw back to Psycho with its vertical bars violently moving around to forceful string instruments. There are similar references to Halloween as well, but the one thing the film lacks is the characters' emotional dilemma and their feelings of guilt involved in their situation. In Psycho it is Marion's (Janet Leigh) moral dilemma over stealing the money, and in Halloween it is Laurie's (Jamie Lee Curtis) feelings of social inequity. Amy and David do not share this external baggage-their troubled relationship is seemingly repaired through this trial that they are put through and not manifested by a killer such as Michael Myers or Norman Bates. There is no name given to whoever pursues them and there is no correlation that can be drawn between the characters and their tormentors.

All in all Vacancy hits a few high points and is a smart enough film to stay clear of areas where previous horror movies have failed (horrible twist endings such as in Identity). Vacancy has a decent build of suspense, the exclusion of gratuitous violence helps, and the characters are more likable than those of the average horror movie. The letdown is that the film doesn't take any substantial risks. It follows a very linear path, with no deviations, and stays almost exclusively at the motel. It is a film that will entertain, but won't allow for too much out of the box thinking.

To tel you the plot of this movie would be telling you the plot of a hundred other films of the horror genre. Couple in car, car breaks down, couple goes to motel, motel people are crazy and try to kill them. So how does Vacancy try to step out of the conventional horror genre it has already set itself up as? Why not cast Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale...oh yeah, they are being killed for a snuff film too.

Vacancy isn't so much a film, as it is an exercise. It's an exercise in the genre of horror. It doesn't amount to anything, it simply exists to see what they could do with film. It's not good enough to be classified as experimental and not crappy enough to be called B movie trash. Hell, it's only 85 minutes long. It's a film that has both positives and negatives and if you take it with a grain of salt, you can have a lot of fun with it.

The negatives this film has can be turned into positives if you're willing. That is of course if you don't take this film too seriously. It has all the horror clichés, broken down car, creepy hotel, creepy guy, cell phone that doesn't work. These little things seem to be mandatory in horror films these days that involve slashers. So where does Vacancy separate itself from other slasher films? It has no teens in it. Instead we get a married couple who are getting a divorce. Unfortunately, we hate them just as much, if not more then any teen in any teen slasher.

These two characters do a lot of stupid things. Who goes down a tunnel not knowing where it leads, especially when the people trying to kill you use it. Who breaks a mirror to use a sharp piece as a weapon....and not use it. Hell, I was yelling at him for not using the shower curtain rod as a weapon. I never cared for these people at all, Wilson is miscast and Beckinsale is irritating. She looks good, but looks aren't everything. I couldn't cheer for them to live, but I couldn't really cheer for them to die either. For some strange reason I found many scenes to be suspenseful. It's an odd feeling when you don't like the main characters. Aside from the desk clerk, the bad guys are basically faceless mutes. Their reasoning for doing what they are doing is never mentioned. I can only guess they make these sick videos for some sick truck drivers. The snuff film aspect was a nice addition and it set up for some good tension, but it never delivers on that initial tension.

It sets itself apart as much as it could, but falls into its own tricks. It doesn't have the gore that other films these days have, but the actions from characters are so clichéd that whatever it tried to do to set itself apart is meaningless. Vacancy doesn't go to the twist ending route, nor does it try to go out on a downer. It simply ties everything in a nice little bow. It cheats the audience. The film would have been stronger had it ended with a death, and not a cop out.

While Vacancy isn't as bad as people have said it was, it isn't great either. As previously mentioned, it isn't so much of a film as it is an exercise in a specific genre. It does well in some areas and fails greatly at others.

The ingredients are very familiar. So, to know the premise is to know the plot: Married couple on the outs travel through rural America, experience an automobile breakdown and locate the colorful folks in the back-country for assistance. What ensues is the usual "survive the night" style narrative with a few minor modifications.

That said, Luke Wilson (who apparently was a total PITA to work with) provides a very good performance. (If he was dialing it in, it certainly does not show.) And Kate Beckinsale was a great compliment to him the whole way through. In short, whatever their horrible chemistry off-set; on-set, it worked (after all, "David" and "Amy" are a couple in the midst of a divorce).

On top of that, the set design, lighting and pace of events are really quite good. And while there are some plot holes, this film had just enough energy and pluck to keep me interested. (The producers wisely trimmed it to 1:25.)

If I learned anything from "Psycho" it's not to stay at a remote motel. If I learned anything from "Dead End" it's that you never leave the interstate as a detour--no matter what. If learned anything from "Breakdown" it's that if a stranger touches your car it will stop working shortly thereafter. David and Amy Fox (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) committed all three errors.

The bickering passive aggressive couple were on their way home from a family gathering when David decided to take a detour due to a crash on the main highway. Eventually he reached a point where he was lost and on top of that he damaged the car when he swerved to miss a raccoon. They stopped at the first gas station they saw for directions and perhaps a mechanic's opinion. Instead they got a mechanic who tampered with the vehicle and debilitated it. With it being too late to do anything else the couple stayed at the nearby roach motel. And that's when the craziness started.

Much like we'd see in "The Strangers" in 2008, "Vacancy" was about a sadistic group of men who loved to terrorize the guests of the out-of-the-way motel. These psychotic freaks videoed their activities. And judging by their film library, they were prolific killers. With multiple hidden cameras set up in every room, the masked murderers aimed to get as much screaming and frantic behavior as they could from their unfortunate guests.

"Vacancy" keeps you on edge and your heart pumping. Every whimper, word, or whisper makes you flinch as you try to will the protagonists to be quiet and survive their ordeal. "Vacancy," like most thrillers and horrors, requires some suspended disbelief. A few things will annoy the thinking viewer, but it's not enough to make you pack it in. "Vacancy" keeps it interesting and suspenseful from beginning to end.