Post by StevePulaski on Mar 31, 2011 10:49:12 GMT -5
Rating: ★★½
If Vacancy is anything it's a half-assed trip back to the past for me. Ethan Embry (Dutch) and Frank Whaley (Career Opportunities) both make appearances in this film much to my enjoyment. One of the reasons I've remembered Vacancy is because from 2007 - 2011 they had a phone number (1-888-9VACANCY). You could call the number and it would be like calling the actual Pinewood Motel in the film. You'd hear creepy screams in the background with Frank Whaley talking to you with his strange, unsettling tone.
I used to call the number all the time and scare the crap out of myself. You'd call it and it would say "Hey folks you've reached the Pinewood Motel, you're in luck, cause we got a room just for you. Please press one to here more about our offers, press two to make a reservation, press zero...for an operator." It was genuinely creepy. It gave me goose bumps just typing that. Frank Whaley has one of the creepiest most memorable voices next to Anthony Hopkins and Ted Levine (Rusty Nail in Joy Ride).
The plot: A near-divorced couple David and Amy Fox (Wilson and Beckinsale) have car troubles on their way home late at night on a backroad. They find a motel called "The Pinewood Motel" that is vacant and decide to stay the night and get help in the morning. They meet the motel manager named Mason (Whaley) a lanky guy, still rocking the eighties hair from his film Career Opportunities. Mason is a creepy, unsettling manager because of his calm tone and strange appearance.
David and Amy find old VHS tapes on the top of their VCR in their room. When they put them on they find two goons beating the hell out of the people that stay in the same room they are in. The tapes are obviously dubbed "snuff films." Much to their surprise, they find cameras in the vents of the room and try to leave but the goons are outside trying to find a way in the room. It's do or die as David and Amy struggle to escape the motel.
This seems like the kind of film that would've been put out during the eighties, slasher craze time. Having it set in 2007 is fine, but it's a little peculiar since the film is built off of every cliche in horror films. Take the wrong turn, stay in a motel, etc. We've seen this.
The film is worth a rent/buy on Dvd for two reasons; Frank Whaley's meltdown in the film and the extended snuff film footage found in the "special features" part of the Dvd. Am I a sadist because I enjoyed the fake snuff footage? I found it to be entertaining. I would never do it, but it's kind of funny that these guys just beat on random people in a motel. We never really get a reason why they do this, but we assume it's for pleasure for the goons and for Mason.
Vacancy is a high class B movie. It's odd when a horror film has A list stars like Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, who have been in so many good films. Usually these types of movies pave the way for actors in the future like Jennifer Aniston in Leprechaun, Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th. Vacancy's delight comes from the footage of the snuff films and the motel's manager. That still isn't enough to call this film average.
Starring: Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry. Directed by: Nimrod Antel.
If Vacancy is anything it's a half-assed trip back to the past for me. Ethan Embry (Dutch) and Frank Whaley (Career Opportunities) both make appearances in this film much to my enjoyment. One of the reasons I've remembered Vacancy is because from 2007 - 2011 they had a phone number (1-888-9VACANCY). You could call the number and it would be like calling the actual Pinewood Motel in the film. You'd hear creepy screams in the background with Frank Whaley talking to you with his strange, unsettling tone.
I used to call the number all the time and scare the crap out of myself. You'd call it and it would say "Hey folks you've reached the Pinewood Motel, you're in luck, cause we got a room just for you. Please press one to here more about our offers, press two to make a reservation, press zero...for an operator." It was genuinely creepy. It gave me goose bumps just typing that. Frank Whaley has one of the creepiest most memorable voices next to Anthony Hopkins and Ted Levine (Rusty Nail in Joy Ride).
The plot: A near-divorced couple David and Amy Fox (Wilson and Beckinsale) have car troubles on their way home late at night on a backroad. They find a motel called "The Pinewood Motel" that is vacant and decide to stay the night and get help in the morning. They meet the motel manager named Mason (Whaley) a lanky guy, still rocking the eighties hair from his film Career Opportunities. Mason is a creepy, unsettling manager because of his calm tone and strange appearance.
David and Amy find old VHS tapes on the top of their VCR in their room. When they put them on they find two goons beating the hell out of the people that stay in the same room they are in. The tapes are obviously dubbed "snuff films." Much to their surprise, they find cameras in the vents of the room and try to leave but the goons are outside trying to find a way in the room. It's do or die as David and Amy struggle to escape the motel.
This seems like the kind of film that would've been put out during the eighties, slasher craze time. Having it set in 2007 is fine, but it's a little peculiar since the film is built off of every cliche in horror films. Take the wrong turn, stay in a motel, etc. We've seen this.
The film is worth a rent/buy on Dvd for two reasons; Frank Whaley's meltdown in the film and the extended snuff film footage found in the "special features" part of the Dvd. Am I a sadist because I enjoyed the fake snuff footage? I found it to be entertaining. I would never do it, but it's kind of funny that these guys just beat on random people in a motel. We never really get a reason why they do this, but we assume it's for pleasure for the goons and for Mason.
Vacancy is a high class B movie. It's odd when a horror film has A list stars like Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, who have been in so many good films. Usually these types of movies pave the way for actors in the future like Jennifer Aniston in Leprechaun, Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th. Vacancy's delight comes from the footage of the snuff films and the motel's manager. That still isn't enough to call this film average.
Starring: Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry. Directed by: Nimrod Antel.