Vacancy
by Nimr?d Antal
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DVD details
Actor: Ethan Embry, Frank Whaley, Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Scott G. AndersonDirector: Nimr?d Antal
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Andrzej Sekula
Editor: Armen Minasian
Producer: Brian Paschal
Producer: Glenn S. Gainor
Producer: Hal Lieberman
Producer: Stacy Cramer
Writer: Mark L. Smith
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Unknown
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Vacancy
DVD Review: The Fantastic Mr. Fox & Wife Get a Room for the Night
Summary: 4 Stars
"Vacancy" is not your average thriller/slasher film. To the untrained eye, it provides nearly an hour and a half of Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale just trying to stay alive in a sleaze-bag motel while being constantly harassed by the unknown locals. The film seems to follow a structure, it seems to be predictable, but then - it transforms into something diabolically more. "Vacancy" is one of those undercut films that blends the power of a modern Hitchcock with just the right twists to keep new audiences on the edge of their seat. "Vacancy", upon watching it a second time, is more than just slash and grab; it is a cineophile dream come true.
In the modern world of "Saw", "Hostel" and nearly anything Eli Roth places his name upon, it would be easy to see how this film would be overlooked. It doesn't have a monster, people are not dripping blood in every scene, and (the biggie) there is no major twist at the end. Director Nimrod Antal's sophomore outing is more about the style, the cinematography, and the characters than just your a-typical release of this genre. We are privy to see our characters prior to these horrific incidents, to understand why they are pushed, and despite their ability to just run away from each other, they stay - giving us a great hour and a half. To begin, the opening credits set the tone. Not since "Panic Room" was I stricken by the originality of these credits, and how they propelled me into a immediate state of nervousness. After this, we are welcomed into a car, a already tense filled car that keeps us on the edge of our seats even further. Perhaps Luke and Kate will provide a moment of ease in this ride, but no - quite a different approach than we have seen prior from these two actors - they are in their own zone, and Antal controls it. He makes us believe. He scares us, while never taking us out of that moment of disbelief. This could happen. Antal knows that, Luke and Kate give us realism, and we are set for a wild ride.
The plot was strong - the acting kept up with the chilling score and Frank Whaley proves that skinny nerds can be frightening. Whaley commands the time he has on screen, giving us small nuances of this character that others may have forgotten. Known mainly for lower-budget roles, "Vacancy" demonstrates what happens when small actors get good parts (with great directors.). Finally, one cannot discuss "Vacancy" without drooling over the cinematography. Briefly mentioned above, Antal has paid homage to Hitchcock in a grandiose way by giving us these early shots of our characters not in the foreground, but symbolically traveling along the open highway. For the first hour, prior to the desperate need to escape, there were filmed moments that just stood out - i.e. the car ride, the discovery of the tapes, the walk to the motel, and even near the end - with the shot of Kate looking through the cracks resonated early Hitch. This is what small attention to detail can do for your film.
"Vacancy" is worth a second viewing, and even a third - it impresses me that I like Luke and Kate in their roles, and Whaley hits his mark directly. Antal's choice of music, cinematography, and leads prove his ability behind the camera, giving us a new twist to a genre that at times feels dated and recycled. I would recommend this film for a good fright - don't believe it is just another product of the Hollywood machine - it stands tall and proud.
Grade: **** ? out of *****
DVD Review: Don't Become A Star In Your Own Snuff Film! Stay On The Interstate!
Summary: 4 Stars
After watching horror films like "Wrong Turn," you'd think that American drivers would stop taking shortcuts when traveling through the boonies. Stay on the interstate! Obviously, David Fox (Luke Wilson of "Henry Poole is Here" and "3:10 to Yuma") hasn't learned this. After him and his gorgeous wife Amy (Kate Beckingsale of "Van Helsing" and the "Underworld" trilogy) take a shortcut, their car breaks down near an isolated "Psycho"-like motel where tourists check in but they don't check out. In their "honeymoon suite," they pass the time by whining, complaining and watching low budget slasher flicks. Soon they realize that these flicks are all being filmed in the same room as their own. There is loud pounding on the doors and the fiendish nightmare begins. Will they escape this hotel from Hell?
Reminiscent of such classic drive-in horror movies as "Hotel Hell" and "Mountaintop Motel Massacre, "Vacancy" is highly suspenseful. Wilson and Beckingsale make a very adorable couple whose marriage is in trouble. Having lost their toddler son, Charlie, they are non-communicative and hostile towards one another. However, their relationship strengthens and their love increases as they struggle to survive this grueling night. Performances from Beckingsale and Wilson are believable and touching. You will cheer for them as they flee the maniacs who are determined to film their deaths. Frank Whaley gives a great performance as the evil, psychotic hotel clerk, Mason. You want the pervert to die so badly.
"Vacancy" is highly recommended for those who love horror films involving tourists who are preyed upon by serial killers. Recommended classics from the eighties are "Tourist Trap," "Hotel Hell," and "Mountaintop Motel Massacre." The last one, like "Vacancy," also involves the usage of underground tunnels. Modern horror movies you may want to check out are "House of Wax," "Turistas" and "The Ruins."
DVD Review: "Creepy" is an oft-used term to review this film. I would agree...
Summary: 4 Stars
Strong actors Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale are engaging enough to hold the interest of viewers. Additionally, the atmosphere and supporting cast add up to an entertaining "horror" diversion. Take Frank Whaley as the motel's manager--very shifty character. And Ethan Embry's happy-go-lucky mechanic is just a cover for what he is later revealed to be. Add to that the element of "snuff" films, and you have an unsettling movie that takes place at a trademark horror setting--one dilapidated motel. Good for suspense, but lacks on gore and jolts.DVD Review: Excellent, a really suspensful and entertaining thriller !
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one heck of a thrilling movie! It starts off a bit slow initially only to really pick up a frantic pace right from the moment the couple hears that knock on their door in the motel.
Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson play the married couple well who up until getting to the motel had their relationship in a crisis. But soon have other things to do, like staying alive, once they checked into that motel, because their car broke down in the middle of the night. I don't want to give away the story, but if you haven't seen it then go ahead, because this movie will keep you on the edge of your sit, since its full of suspense and some rather unexpected things coming your way.
This was certainly one of the best thrillers of the year.
DVD Review: Nice addition to 21st century suspense/horror...
Summary: 4 Stars
Vacancy is the best stalk/slash at a motel film since 1960's Psycho. But you will not find anyone staying here that is hiding out after stealing money from her employer, and you will not find a motel manager who keeps his mother's corpse in the fruit cellar while he dresses up like her. Vacancy offers a nice change after the countless remakes and torture films like Saw filling the theatres these days. I would not categorize it as strictly horror but more as a suspense film in the realm of Hitchcock. There is not much blood and gore and that's okay with me. If that is what you are seeking, look elsewhere. If you would like to be entertained and on the edge of your seat for 80 minutes, you will like this. Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson do a good job. It's nice seeing characters who seem real with problems and a history together rather than the usual annoying, disposable ones ever so present in other horror films. The soundtrack for Vacancy in the opening and closing credits is also really neat and catchy. Vacancy will not go down as a classic but is a worthy addition to any DVD library. I would also recommend the recent suspense/horror film P2 by Alexandre Aja which uses a confined setting like Vacancy or if you want to go further back, I always like to refer people to the thriller Road Games starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Description of Vacancy
When David (Luke Wilson) and Amy Fox's (Kate Beckinsale) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, they are forced to spend the night at the only motel around, with only the TV to entertain them... until they discover that the low-budget slasher videos they find in their room were all filmed in the very room they're sitting in. With hidden cameras now aimed at them... trapping them in rooms, crawlspaces, underground tunnels... and filming their every move, David and Amy must struggle to get out alive before they end up the next victims on tape.
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A confined setting is a useful tool for thriller-makers, and Vacancy is definitely boxed in: a rundown motel way, way off the Interstate, the kind of place where unsuspecting movie characters go to get stabbed to death in the shower. If Vacancy doesn't quite live up to its Hitchcockian forbears, at least it provides 80 minutes of well-designed mayhem. You know somebody's paying attention just from the opening credits, a clever vortex with pounding music by Paul Haslinger. Then we meet unhappy couple Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, driving along in the dark and forced to stay at the Pinewood Motel after a car breakdown. There's a night man (Frank Whaley, decadent) in the tradition of Dennis Weaver's Touch of Evil gargoyle, but the real mess of trouble is waiting in room number 4. Director Nimrod Antal, who scored a stylish international hit with the Hungarian thriller Kontroll, squeezes maximum juice out of the Route 66 atmosphere of the motel, although the movie doesn't get under your skin the way Kontroll did. Wilson and Beckinsale are a little too marquee-namish for this kind of heavy-breathing work, and the script doesn't give them much to play with. But hey, it's not that kind of movie. Where it really belongs is on the top half of a drive-in double bill, or maybe as a nightmare-scenario TV movie from the Seventies. Either way, it works. --Robert Horton
Stills from Vacancy (click for larger image)
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