Product Description
When David (Luke Wilson) and Amy Foxs (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 theyre 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.
Amazon.com
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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 doesnt quite live up to its Hitchcockian forbears, at least it provides 80 minutes of well-designed mayhem. You know somebodys 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. Theres a night man (Frank Whaley, decadent) in the tradition of Dennis Weavers 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 doesnt 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 doesnt give them much to play with. But hey, its 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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 Vacancy on Blu-ray |  Avoid Travel Disasters |  By the Director |
Rate Points :3.0
Binding :DVD
Brand :Sony
Label :Sony Pictures
Manufacturer :Sony Pictures
MPN :COLD18288D
ProductGroup :DVD
Studio :Sony Pictures
Publisher :Sony Pictures
UPC :043396182882
EAN :0043396182882
Price :$19.94USD
Lowest Price :$2.95USD
Customer ReviewsWell put together but pointless slasher flick
Rating Point :3 Helpful Point :0
Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale put in decent performances in this claustrophobic slasher movie. The first 20 minutes establish them as a couple on the brink of a failed marriage, who have got lost on the way back from a visit to parents. They end up staying at a seedy motel, but they soon find the room is not going to give them any rest - the slasher movies in the video player in the room appear to be real, and take place in the same room they are in, and it soon becomes clear they are to be the unwilling stars of the next one.
There are some genuine thrills and the whole thing is put together quite efficiently. It is not as graphic as some of the torture movies proliferating these days, and better for it. However, there is a nagging feeling that the first 20 minutes discovering who this couple are, is the most interesting part of the movie. For the slasher parts, there is a nagging feeling of pointlessness.
That aside, if its nasty slasher thrills you are after, then go ahead. For dramatic substance, apply elsewhere.
You Cant Check Out!
Rating Point :3 Helpful Point :1
Heres yet another homage to that grand old classic, l960s "Psycho," although this is a movie that Alfred Hitchcock would never recognize. Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale portray the usual couple who are planning to divorce or separate. You never find happy couples in these motel movies. Anyway, after their car breaks down, they check into a strange room in a remote motel. The room just happens to be the site of a butcher room where snuff films are made. At least this is an original idea.
Luke Wilson does a terrific job as the heroic, courageous man who battles a tiny army of killers and psychos who are determined to make him and his wife their latest victims. Kate Beckinsale has the thankless job of being the usual helpless, cringing, fragile woman who depends on her "man" for protection and security. Only towards the end does she show any signs of courage. You would think that after Sigourney Weaver made movie history in the "Alien" movies where she ferociously kicked major butt, that our days of seeing delicate, cringing, shrieking female heroines were over with. But, much like the female in "The Strangers" shes just a cowering, whining, shrieking blob of jello. You would thinks shed pick up anything heavy to help her husband in his life and death battle with the killers. At the end, were asked to believe that her husband does something so unbelievable that were asked to believe it.
Despite these shortcomings, this film is reasonably entertaining and you can be sure that there are several sequels already being planned.
Everything was great...except for the ending...
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :1
This is definitely not a movie to watch all by yourself. This is the kind of movie you watch when you wonder if everything has already been done, and nothing will scare you anymore. Who needs ghosts, devil worshiping murderers, or any kind of the supernatural when you have good old fashioned realistic type of events that COULD happen to you?
Amy and David got off the interstate (BIG mistake) and found that they were having car trouble. Since the mechanics had all gone home for the night, they decided to stay overnight in a creepy motel, since there was nothing else around. The place was run by an equally creepy manager, played by Frank Whaley, who I havent seen since In the Company of Men.
Even though the hotel was quite dirty and run down, the couple starts to finally relax when someone keeps banging on, not only the door to their room, but the door to the neighboring room. As everyone does in a scary movie, you hear crazy sounds, you investigate, even if you shouldnt. In between trying to find out who is attempting to break in and planning an escape route, David notices some tapes on top of the VCR. Every tape he checks out has people being attacked and killed. Strangely, they all take place in the same room, which is starting to look very familiar...
What follows is an adrenaline filled thrill ride with lots of action, and a few plot holes. VACANCY is a short movie (85 mins) which leaves no extra time for love making scenes or nudity, which some horror film directors feel is necessary to keep us interested. There is no need. This is the kind of movie that leaves you yelling at the screen and discussing with company would YOU would do in that situation. Though I thought that the ending was somewhat weak, I think that the rest of the movie makes up for it. VACANCY 2 will be coming in 2009, and even though it will probably be like a lot of other sequels, thats not going to stop me from watching it.
Recommended if you need a little adventure that will keep you checking the locks and windows for the night.
excellent plot, good acting
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :0
The plot is intriguing, not predictable yet not so complex one gets tangled in the twists. A fifties era motel provides nostalgia and the acting is superb. Excess foul language and violence detract but do not spoil the movie. One finds themself caring what happens next. Unfortunately the picture lacks quality music, costumes, makeup and comic relief. Still it is worth seeing.
kept me glued!!
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :0
Scary enough movie without being too gory. Luke Wilson, I thought, did a fine acting job as a man who is really scared knowing he and his wife are trapped in this motel run by psychos and and who is trying to find a way out to save himself and his wife. In other words, it was nice seeing a man act the way one would in this kind of a situation and not like John Wayne or Sylvester Stallone in their "I got it covered mode". Kate Beckinsale is also good. Frank Whaley is creepy enough!! All in all, if you like suspenseful movies this should do it for you!!
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