A non-gory, suspense-based, pared-down thriller in the Hitchcock mould, VACANCY riffs on the HOSTEL premise of sicko middle-aged thrill-seekers exploiting / torturing / killing unsuspecting tourists and stranded urbanites. Although it has the added kink that, this time, the aggressors have a sideline in snuff filmmaking, VACANCY is less concerned with on-screen sadism in the fashionable Eli Roth style than it is with old school chills and thrills. The Hitchcock influence ranges from the obvious – a seedy middle of nowhere motel with no guests managed by a chummy but twitchy lunatic – to engaging homage : check out the inventive Saul Bass-esque title sequence and the orchestral score modeled on the work of Bernard Herrmann.
The film takes place over a single night. On the brink of signing their divorce papers, Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale have accepted the collapse of their marriage – largely, it seems, as the result of a tragic bereavement. They have car trouble in the worst possible place late at night and, with no cell phone signal (doh!), are forced to take refuge at a scuzzy motel. The honeymoon suite comes, for an extra $5, complete with a free cockroach, soiled sheets…and harrowing snuff videos shot in the very same room. Once they’ve watched said video and realized what’s in store for them, Beckinsale and Wilson are forced in to a cat and mouse game of survival as they are menaced by manager Frank Whaley and his masked, murderous goons.
This is two-thirds of a terrific movie – taut, tense, even genuinely scary at times, with powerful use of suggested violence and well cast leads. The first half yields bonafide chills. Without spilling any blood, director Nimrod Antal has us on edge with a combination of discreetly conveyed brutality, the ominous noises coming from an adjacent room and the insincere niceness of Ned Flanders look alike Whaley (who’s excellent). The chase scenes are suspenseful, the pace never lags, the sparse setting is deftly employed and Wilson & Beckinsale are splendidly caustic as the bickering couple in peril.
Sadly, the wrap up doesn’t fulfill the promise of what has gone before. Beckinsale becomes a standard-issue final girl and the script cops out with a cookie-cutter resolution relying on slasher movie clichés and one of those “Oh, come on!!!” moments involving the survival of a key character against the odds. Until the last 20 minutes or so, however, VACANCY is dynamic.
-Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
