Vacancy (2007)

Theatrical Release: April 20, 2007

This riveting thriller features Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as a couple whose car breaks down, stranding them at a very dangerous hotel. Director Nimrod Antal carefully builds the suspense as the film gradually leads to horror when the hotel turns out to be a snuff film operation, with cameras everywhere and lots of truly horrific videos of past murders (shot in the same room) lying atop the TV set. The couple needs to think fast before they become the next victims.

In the past decade, I have found it hard to find a good horror movie. The three exceptions to this have been In the Mouth of Madness, The Ring, and Saw. The reason I loved these movies so much was mostly because of the very real tension coupled with the mystery and fear pervading the movie. The 2007 Vacancy is now part of what I consider a good horror movie, where horror in my mind is anything that can fright or leave one, well, horrified.

In the movie, a couple are currently on the outs due to an accident that killed their only son. On the way home form a party, the husband, played wonderfully by Luke Wilson, takes a short cut. During the travels, engine trouble forces the two to say at the Pineridge Motel, which is managed by a very creepy guy. As they settle in for the night, strange knocking pervades their rest and they are confronted with VHS tapes in their room that show grisly murders with a slight twist: the room in the tapes is the room they currently occupy. The remainder of the movie shows the two trying to fight their unknown assailants and make it through the night.

The film did manage to set me on the edge of my seat, though the first twenty minutes was all about building to the meat of the story. I am usually averse to human-based horror flicks, since I like a dab of the strange, but this one was able grab me. Of course with any movie like this, the killers are head strong and sure of their goal. They are relentless, since they had never met people with such staunch conviction to live and use their wits. While one knows that in the long run, something will come to almost all of the killers, there is always that little nagging at the back of my mind that says either one or both of the main characters will be killed in the end. Still, I do nothing but wish the most horrible end possible for the perpetrators, which I am sure that the writers and director wanted to evoke in me.

The film was very well directed, above average for horror and suspense movies. Like I mentioned, the acting of Luke Wilson was very good. I only had passing knowledge of his work prior to this, still preferring him over his brother Owen, and I was very happy with his performance. As for Beckinsale, it was nice to see her in a role where she is vulnerable to her surrounds and that doesn't play up her sex appeal. This was also the first time with this actress that she really gave me a good movie experience.

A very good entry to the suspense and horror genre. Nothing that will change the genre, but at least better than some of the other recent big screen fare out right now.

Score: 7.9 / 10