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Review #451 of 365
Movie Review of Vacancy (2007) [R] 80 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 24 April 2007
Time: 10:10 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Nimród Antal (Kontroll)
Written by: Mark L. Smith
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Kate Beckinsale (Click) • Luke Wilson (Idiocracy) • Frank Whaley (Crazy Eights) • Ethan Embry (Kidney Thieves)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
How many creepy, middle of nowhere, western USA motel films do people have to see before they get it through their thick skulls that bad stuff always seems to happen? Well, probably not too many more for on-the-outs husband and wife David (Luke Wilson) and Amy (Kate Beckinsale) Fox. Having recently lost their only child to a terrible accident, the two have decided to divorce and go their separate ways. On last trip to the in-laws for Dave, the two put on a happy face and pretended all was well with them or, at least, as well as it could be given the tragic circumstances. We gather all this only by inference as the two talk about this or argue about this as they return home on a windy mountain road Dave got them onto trying to avoid hours of delays on the interstate caused by an enormous wreck. The two bicker like a loving married couple. Probably, they are in love still, but their heartache has blocked them from seeing it, or so we again can only gather from inference. When the car starts making a funny noise, of course, they pull into a perfectly placed gas station and hope to get some assistance. Out of the blue pops the mechanic (Ethan Embry) scaring the living daylights out of them.
"…terrifying cat and mouse game… didn't work quite as well as predicted…there just wasn't enough going on."
This should probably have been warning sign number one, but these two don't pick up on any of the warning signs until it is too late. The mechanic pops around under the hood for a minute under Dave's watchful eyes, and they hit the road again. Approximately two miles and 20 insults later, the car is caput and they are stranded. Amy wants to stay in the car until daylight. Dave wants to walk back and get the mechanic. Not wanting to stay alone, Amy walks back with Dave to the garage which they find is now closed. The motel lights next door flash 'vacancy'—which would be warning sign number two completely ignored. Upon entering the office, they hear the some loud screaming, it seems like it's coming from a woman in terror—which would be warning sign number three. They ring the bell, and the manager who actually might make Norman Bates look somewhat docile and kind, peeks around the door of his little room to assist them—which definitely would have been the kicker of all warning signs if you ask me. These two, clearly, are not into reading basic signs, for they ask about the mechanic, whom they find is gone home with no possible way to be reached and the nearest other garage is over 30 miles away. So, what do they do? They could go back to the car, or they could get a room. Once inside the room, they both decide sleeping fully clothed will be a wise choice. They endure some pounding on the wall and door by some perceived prankster kids, but this fires up Dave who wants action. The manager (Frank Whaley) assures him he'll take care of it. Dave returns to watch some tv, and the video he pops in seems to be of their same room with people being terrorized and killed on video. He cannot believe his eyes. How did he miss all the signs, and now, they are trapped.
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The rest of the film, then, becomes a cat and mouse game between the hotel manager and his lethal buddies who traffic in motel snuff films they make themselves in their own motel and the Foxes. Will the Foxes be able to outsmart these brutal killers? Will the see the light of new day? How can they escape when there are cameras everywhere? Vacancy, directed by Nimród Antal from a script by Mark L. Smith is a film with a better concept and better acting than the story and film turn out to be. Ms Beckinsale and Mr. Wilson do their level best in a film that ultimately has them crawling around a lot. There are some terrifying and scary moments. There is a lot, lot less blood and gore, to the film's credit, than we've seen of late. Definitely, the film takes the high road relying more on the powerfully more terrifying psychological horror. Even so, the film falls short of doing a great job because it exhausts the really scary part too quickly and didn't create sufficiently many avenues for milking this for more than it was worth. After the Foxes figure out that their room is the one from the tapes and they are doomed, then what? In the category of backseat-directing, I would have, if given an advanced look at the film, offered these suggestions that then, might have done the trick and elevated this film to a higher value on the 'scariest motel' films list still well below the Granddaddy of them all, Alfred Hitchcock's ultimate masterpiece, Psycho. First, I would have begun with a couple. Let's call them Milton and Marion in homage to Psycho. They are driving through the mountains on a peaceful afternoon, looking longingly into each other's eyes. Casual conversation would have revealed that Marion (Jennifer Anniston—hey if this is my concept, I can wish for my dream cast for it can't I) is actually Milton's personal trainer. Milton (Vince Vaughn, of course) is a car designer from Santa Barabara, and he's told his wife he's going to a conference in Lake Tahoe for the week, with plans, really, to spend the whole time fooling around with Marion, whom he calls Mare Bear. Crusing along in his one-of-a-kind convertible, they start to get a little too frisky, causing Milt to swerve in front of a motor home filled with the Boschi family. We see the mom, Susan (Kristin Chenoweth) grab and put her hands over the eyes of the young son, Marty (Chris O'Neil). Dad, Vinnie (Chazz Palminteri) we see rolling down the window and yelling out "Get a Room" as he narrowly avoids taking the RV right off the cliff. At this, Mare insists they pull into the next motel. Which they do. And after a raucous good time, they fall asleep, only to be awakened by pounding on the walls and doors that night. Mare panics, Milt calms her down. The next thing we see their car being loaded with body bags and pushed off the cliff and down into the lake by masked men. We then see the hotel manager, Mason, load a videotape into his VCR and we hear the trademark screams of Jennifer Anniston. Switch to an accident of a little boy drowning in a pool and the grief-stricken mother. Her husband, Dave, finally consoles her into going for a visit at the in-laws. They go, they have to keep up their game faces. They've decided to divorce, etc. They pack up the car and head out. Pan forward to our Boschi Family driving past a lake on a lower mountain road. Marty is, as always plastered to the window looking out. He looks up and sees the convertible plummeting down into the lake. He shouts, his Vinnie and Susan look out and see the splash. The momentary distraction caused Vinnie to lose control and he plummets the RV through the guard rail and over the edge down onto the interstate causing a 20 car pile up when a semi-jack knives to avoid hitting the RV now on it's side. Flash back through the traffic that is building up to the car of Dave and Amy Fox as Amy sleeps and Dave decides to take the same turnoff up into the mountains taken by the Boschi's and Milt and Mare, and then we pick up with the Mark L. Smith script. It just seemed like there was a lot missing, and a lot more needed for us to really care about the Foxes. There also need to be more in relation to couples disappearing etc. The 'fear factor' was not as heightened as it could have been. Personally, it's also hard for fans of Kate Beckinsale to watch her get shoved around without wondering why her Underworld skills just don't take over and she does a number on the baddies. Well, at this point, I apologize for my somewhat tongue-in-cheek approach to this part of the review. Some people find it obnoxious and arrogant when critics write material or make suggestions on how a film could have been better, and I don't mean to upset those people. I don't presume that I always know better. I do know only that for me, Vacancy, didn't work quite as well as I thought it would after seeing the trailer. There just wasn't enough going on.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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Other Projects Featuring Vacancy (2007)
Cast Members
Kate Beckinsale
• Luke Wilson • Frank WhaleyEthan Embry
Director
Nimród Antal
Writer
Mark L. Smith
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Vacancy (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
How many creepy, middle of nowhere, western USA motel films do people have to see before they get it through their thick skulls that bad stuff always seems to happen? Well, probably not too many more for on-the-outs husband and wife David (Luke Wilson) and Amy (Kate Beckinsale) Fox. After getting off the interstate to avoid delays due to a major wreck, they end up at a motel run by Mason (Frank Whaley). Soon after checking in, they are terrorized and find videos of people being victimized in their same room. Unfortunately, what comes next is a cat and mouse game that, while scary, doesn't really go that well. There's something missing from Vacancy, directed by Nimród Antal based on a script by Mark L. Smith. It's a film with a better concept and better acting than the story and film turn out to be.
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