VACANCY is one of those thrillers in which a fairly good premise is ruined by a sloppy execution. It begins predictably enough, with a bickering couple whose car breaks down forced to stay at a run-down motel managed by a creepy, nerdish guy. Soon enough there's a twist when they stick on a videotape and realise that snuff films have been made right in the room they're in and they're next on the list.
So far, so good. The set-up and look of the film is very familiar, but I could overlook that. There were a few chilling vibes a la HOSTEL, especially during the videotape playback. Not a great deal of atmosphere, but a little suspense. Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale were a couple of sympathetic leads, so I was looking forward to some cat-and-mouse hijinks. But then the film falls apart to become an endless chase, and reality goes out of the window. Our heroes crawl through a network of underground tunnels, are chased by masked, boiler suit-wearing killers modelling themselves on Michael Myers, escape death numerous times...and I just stopped caring at that point. It's ludicrous, it really is, and would have worked better as a nightmare sequence than a film supposedly set in the real world.
It reminded me of FLIGHTPLAN, in that there's no way the villains would have gone to this much elaboration and trouble to commit their crime. The film never picks up after then either. The ending is highly predictable as is the intervention of a sole sheriff character. In the end, this is a bore – or indeed a chore – to watch. Not the worst I've seen, but getting pretty close in places.
So far, so good. The set-up and look of the film is very familiar, but I could overlook that. There were a few chilling vibes a la HOSTEL, especially during the videotape playback. Not a great deal of atmosphere, but a little suspense. Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale were a couple of sympathetic leads, so I was looking forward to some cat-and-mouse hijinks. But then the film falls apart to become an endless chase, and reality goes out of the window. Our heroes crawl through a network of underground tunnels, are chased by masked, boiler suit-wearing killers modelling themselves on Michael Myers, escape death numerous times...and I just stopped caring at that point. It's ludicrous, it really is, and would have worked better as a nightmare sequence than a film supposedly set in the real world.
It reminded me of FLIGHTPLAN, in that there's no way the villains would have gone to this much elaboration and trouble to commit their crime. The film never picks up after then either. The ending is highly predictable as is the intervention of a sole sheriff character. In the end, this is a bore – or indeed a chore – to watch. Not the worst I've seen, but getting pretty close in places.