'Vacancy' review

Rating: *** out of ****

Nimród Antal's 'Vacancy' is a minimalist thriller in the tradition of Hitchcock's 'Rear Window', with a few dashes of 'Psycho' thrown in. I want to stop right here and adamantly illustrate that I am NOT saying this film is within the same level of quality as those masterpieces - far from it. However, some elements of the story and the ways in which the directors utilize their small, claustrophobic sets are somewhat similar. Moving on.

'Vacancy' stars A-listers Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as Amy and David Fox, a couple on the verge of a divorce who are traveling home on their way from Amy's parents' anniversary party. Along the way, we get glimpses of back-story including how they had a son together who died in a tragic accident and that Amy blames herself. David, however, accepts that it was an accident and deals with the pain. While driving, their car breaks down on a dark deserted road (a cliché I am willing to overlook) and they end up crashing overnight at the Pinewood Motel. The motel is inhabited by an overly friendly mechanic and a manager with a slight attitude. It is in the motel that things go terribly awry. David and Amy soon discover that they are about to become the victims in a snuff film, and a game of cat and mouse ensues in which they must escape the motel. This proves more difficult than expected, as the captors control every aspect of the motel and have enough hidden cameras to see their every move.

What helps 'Vacancy' work is how tight the film is. It clocks in at a mere 1 hour and 25 minutes, and while this could prove lacking in some films, the brief run-time is exactly what it needs and uses it well. The movie builds a momentum and keeps it, hardly letting up. Another plus is how violence was not used as a crutch. Often times, filmmakers fall back on violence, substituting it for story or real suspense. Antal could have easily copped-out and fallen back on gore as a crutch but relied on actual thrills, not just a splatter show. It was also good to see villains that were not super-villains. I see so many movies where the killers are 'real' people and yet they continuously get back up, survive and keep going - even after getting shot, stabbed, etc. I liked how the killers were real people and were not invincible. When these people get hurt, they stay down - and with that, Antal was able to sidestep clichés like the 'killer gets back up for one last scare', which he did not do (though he had many an opportunity).

'Vacancy' had its down notes though. The attempt at back-story was weak and Kate Beckinsale seemed useless next to Luke Wilson who pulls off panic quite believably. All Beckinsale seemed to do was cry, scream and whimper. You can really tell that she was hired on for her star power and to attract an audience. Clearly, the film did not need a high paying lead actress like her in the role - kind of a waste of money. If they were going to shell out for an A-lister, they should have written a better character that deserves one.

Still, 'Vacancy' offers some decent thrills and good performances while using very little resources when compared to many of the new, big-budget horror thrillers. I have seen this little movie described as 'Psycho meets Saw'. Sounds about right.