In Vacancy Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale (the reigning queen of The
Underworld series) get some much needed marriage therapy when they spend the
last night before the official divorce in a Bates motel where the free
in-room movie is a snuff film that tries to feature them. Nimrod Antal (the
director of Kontroll a moody thriller set entirely in the Hungarian
underground subway) like a scientist engaged in a rat labyrinth study, knows
his way through the maze of alienation, claustrophobia and terror that Mark
L. Smith's screenplay creates. In the slow unfolding opening scenes that
take place mostly within the confines of David and Amy Fox's small car, the
fidgeting, the bickering and recriminations about blame for their failing
marriage and dead son are intercut with shots of them seemingly talking
alone in the speeding dark, the roof almost smashing down on top of their
heads. Clearly, this is a lost couple caught in the seat of their own
individual sorrow and pain yet unable to break away from the mutual comfort
that grief provides. Antal quickly and efficiently underlines the
psychology of these two, if tested, that can still fight for each other.
David and Amy are a lot more intelligent than the average horror movie
victims (who die in a queasy and brutal series of dicers projected from
their room VCR), and in a neat twist that makes Vacancy a small guilty
pleasure, David really knows how to watch a film. So, when the cameras are
discovered and the mayhem begins this couple has a sensible escape plan that
keeps them just barely ahead of the murderous Mason (an overheated
performance by Frank Whaley) , the front desk manager with an auteur streak,
and his masked assassins. The delight of watching David and Amy crawling
through the gangs secret underground tunnels, attic crawl spaces and booby
hatches is only mildly marred by the stupidity of Mason's gang-- even though
Frank Whaley does a good slow burn. The moral of all this is: "Watch a
movie, really watch a movie, it just might save your life." Vacancy gets a
B.
FAQ
Search
Profile
Private Messages
Log in
