Harold Goldstein
Roadside motels are given a whole new meaning as “Vacancy” checks in with bone-rattling horrific thrills in a nice, 85-minute package with enough blood and language to fill an R-rating.
But does the time and rating give the film an extra punch or is it just limping behind its other scary brethren?
This small tale chronicles the journey of David and Amy Fox (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale), a disgruntled couple who can’t seem to get through a conversation without trying to scratch each other’s eyes out.
As fate would have it, their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and both are forced to spend the night at a small roadside motel. Trying to calm down, the pair try to find some entertainment in some unnamed low-budget horror films. After watching the videos for a couple of minutes, they make a horrid discovery that the location in the films is their exact room.
Finding hidden cameras shelved away in every part of the room, the frightened couple must put their problems aside and work together to escape this nightmare before they become another one of the snuff director’s grand masterpieces.
Being only an hour and 25 minutes long, the film jogs at a steady pace as it delves into the main characters’ personal lives and the problems with their relationship. It’s more than enough to keep the audience’s attention while trying to move the story along with the couple figuring out new ways to disrupt their host’s plans to erase them out of existence.
The musical score of the film emphasized the intensity of the story greatly with its use of the quick, strong chords of the violin and the whispered bumps and thumps of electronic synthesizers.
The special effects, however, felt a little short-lived. The use of blood was very realistic but minimal as there were few major scenes that employed it, not to mention the small clips of fictional snuff films. But the infrequent use of blood was made up with intense action and chase scenes including a sequence that dealt with the couple crawling through an underground tunnel infested with rats while trying to escape their predators.
It was interesting to see Wilson and Beckinsale as two frustrated, potty-mouthed civilians forced in a terrifying situation. From experience, Wilson “The Family Stone” was shown as the romantic, funny type while Beckinsale “Underworld” was shown as the strong, courageous, “won’t-back-down-from-a-fight” type.
Though the film has its moments of horrific scenery and “edge of your seat” thrills, it should be considered as a quaint beginning to a list of the season’s short-lived thriller flicks.
Overall Rating: B-
The seedy motel where David (LUKE WILSON) and Amy (KATE BECKINSALE) must stay after their car breaks down on a remote country road in Screen Gems’ VACANCY. (Suzanne Tenner)
(Suzanne Tenner)