A dark road lies in front of a puttering car. Contained within is a good-looking couple that is undeniably lost, and the only clich?(c)d hope is the lone, eerie light of a vacancy sign in the distance.
Set at a motel, "Vacancy" draws obvious comparisons to the Hitchcock horror classic "Psycho," while Frank Whaley's ("World Trade Center") portrayal of the slimy, eccentric night clerk pays an appropriate homage to Anthony Perkin's Norman Bates.
Bickering spouses David (Luke Wilson, "Idiocracy") and Amy Fox (Kate Beckinsale, "Click") are in the midst of a divorce when their car breaks down on a remote highway. With no other alternative the pair decides to spend the night at the Pinewood Motel. After an odd encounter with the sleazy motel manager, Mason, they make their way over to the honeymoon suite that is conveniently equipped with large cockroaches, odd stains, and a mysterious VHS tape.
The American film debut of the highly successful Hungarian director Nimrod Antal ("Kontroll") has been praised for his unique ability to combine humor with graphic violence. In "Vacancy," Antal creates strong feelings of suspense and fear through dark and disgusting settings, focusing on an overall rundown and unhygienic tone.
Unfortunately, it seems the director's style fails to parallel the point of plot.
Much to Amy's dismay, David insists on watching the tape, which turns out to be a snuff film that was recorded in the same room they are currently in. To make matters worse, the couple finds hidden cameras around the room and an unbelievable lack of cell phone reception.
What helps the film work is the way the audience can relate to its simple plot. Traveling late at night, getting lost, having car trouble, and even staying in a sketchy motel are events most everyone has encountered at some point or another. It's easy for a viewer to envision himself or herself stuck in that "wrong time, wrong place" situation.
Trapped in a small motel room with their every move being watched and having only small crawlspaces to work with, David and Amy must outwit their hotel employee attackers, constantly avoiding becoming the next victims of Mason's newest snuff production.
Much like the couple's motel room, the movie has a few small, solid performances to complement a small, redundant film that barely reaches 80 minutes in length. Wilson, who has made a career in comedy, shows some versatility in his first horror movie. While Beckinsale is also impressive, it's Whaley who steals the show.
What hurts the film is its skewed story development. The plot is very thin, the film essentially a longer version of the trailer. "Vacancy" does its job with being very suspenseful and, at times, legitimately scary, but it never develops into the emotional thriller it promises to evolve into early on.
Considering how much dialogue is focused on establishing the marital problems of David and Amy, it's a shame how insignificant and irrelevant character depth becomes after Antal's obsession with style, and the movie's clich?(c)d horror premise, takes over.
However, despite its vicious unoriginality, "Vacancy" is refreshing in that it strays from the recent trend of exploitative gore in horror movies. The film may be shallow, stylish, and empty, but it is not without its moments. The film is at least worth seeing for the taut scares and solid performances from an A-list cast.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
