This stripped-down chiller has some decent jump-frights, but a dearth of memorable moments.
Vacancy (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:117
Fresh:64
Rotten:53
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Vacancy's restraint with gore is commendable, the thin characters and B-movie cliches less so.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for brutal violence and terror, brief nudity and language.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Apr 20, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $18,986,844
Synopsis: This riveting thriller features Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as a couple whose car breaks down, stranding them at a very dangerous hotel. Director Nimrod Antal carefully builds the suspense as... This riveting thriller features Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale as a couple whose car breaks down, stranding them at a very dangerous hotel. Director Nimrod Antal carefully builds the suspense as the film gradually leads to horror when the hotel turns out to be a snuff film operation, with cameras everywhere and lots of truly horrific videos of past murders (shot in the same room) lying atop the TV set. The couple needs to think fast before they become the next victims. Beckinsale and Wilson play down their star wattage and get truly involved in their change-of-pace roles, sucking the audience into their situation far deeper than one might think possible. Meticulous use of the tawdry, low-rent motel setting--lots of rotted wood, stained wallpaper, and ugly sofas--provides a realistic sense of space. Intelligently crafted and unfolding practically in real time, VACANCY is edge-of-the-seat all the way. Other strong points are the punchy score from Paul Haslinger, a PSYCHO-ish credit sequence, a creepy Frank Whaley as the hotel clerk, and lots of references to films like TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. Thanks to all this care and attention, the scares linger longer than you might expect, so don't watch it alone. [More]
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry
Director: Nimrod Antal
Director: Nimrod Antal
Screenwriter: Mark L. Smith
Producer: Hal Lieberman
Composer: Paul Haslinger
Studio: Screen Gems
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Release:
Aug 14, 2007
Reviews for Vacancy
Vacancy enjoys a cracking pace, all thrills and no frills, leaving viewers barely enough time to catch their breath let alone to dwell on the odd hole in the plot.
Check in to "Vacancy" if you want to see the acting chops on "the other Wilson."
The movie is 80 minutes of mostly entertaining tension, punctuated by violence engineered by a creep using criminally outdated technology.
Replicates the horror movie experience by placing its leads in a dark, boxlike room where they are menaced by loud surprise noises and scary images on a screen...
What starts out as a slick but generic urban legend meets slasher film turns into a surprisingly enjoyable thriller
Nothing in Vacancy manages to come anywhere close to the quiet and steadily mounting dread of the real thing, much less the purview of Norman Bates or his beloved mother.
Trite and opportunistic in its feints at intellectual weight... Best, in fact, to mine from the crumbly ore of Vacancy a drinking game plated in gold.
Vacancy is a fun and violent ride, in the best possible guilty-pleasure sense of course, that suffers from only minor flaws. If only it ended 4 minutes sooner ...
A paint-by-numbers affair that is not only tired, but looks as if it was written by a computer program.
Every cheap trick in the slasher-flick book is crammed into the movie's measly 80 minutes, and pretty much bungled.
While initially resembling the "victim porn" of Hostel, Vacancy into a nice, well-done Psycho riff.
Though Vacancy plays as gruesome horror in its own right, it's also director Nimrod Antal's criticism of how suffering has become the selling point in recent horror films.
The best that can be said is that it is what it is, and is competent at being that.
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Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 77% 77% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 82% 82% | Paranormal Activity |
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