 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
|
|
 email this review to a friend
Horror movies are a dime a dozen these days. The horror genre has expanded to fit so many new sub-categories (the "PG-13 horror", the "torture-porn", the "Asian horror re-make", etc.) that audiences can quickly get burned out. The release date for "Vacancy" was probably not the best. In April alone audiences saw "Grindhouse", "The Reaping", and "Disturbia", not to mention some of the others released just this year: "The Hills Have Eyes 2", "Hostel 2", "Dead Silence", "The Messengers", "Hannibal Rising", just to name a few. By the time "Vacancy" came out, audiences were less than thrilled to see another horror movie. "Vacancy" should not be lumped in the same category with "Primeval" or "Dead Silence" or "The Hills Have Eyes 2". Unlike those movies, it's actually worth your time. Sitting down to "Vacancy" last night, I had visions of those poor excuses for movies dancing in my head, but it didn't take too long to sway me. "Vacancy" begins like many horror movies do: A couple is lost in the middle of nowhere and they're bickering at each other. They check in to the only motel for miles and things go downhill from there. Nothing too original so far. Like many horror fans, when I'm watching a really bad horror movie at home, I made sarcastic comments at the screen. Let me tell you, I got a few in there. Especially at Amy Fox, played by Kate Beckinsdale. She's a real pain in the neck in the beginning, but that's supposed to be the clever character development. But hey, at least they didn't come out and have her tell us what her character flaws are a la "Final Destination 3" where Mary Elizabeth Winstead's character is constantly telling the audience that she's obsessive compulsive. After the first 10 minutes or so, Amy lays off a little bit and her chemistry with David Fox, Luke Wilson, is really believable. That was one of the complaints I had heard about the movie, that Kate Beckinsdale and Luke Wilson have no chemistry. I thought the complete opposite. They play a married couple very well. Nothing too out there like being overly affectionate or calling each other cutesy names. They were comfortable around each other, giving the audience a feel like they had been together for awhile. I'm not a big Luke Wilson fan, and I'm not a big Kate Beckinsdale fan, but I liked both of them in these roles. This may sound cliché, but after David and Amy get into the hotel room, I was on the edge of my seat. The bad guys do typical bad guy things like run around outside in creepy masks and bang on the doors. But thrown in with David and Amy having the videotapes of other murders that occurred in the same room...the pacing and the timing in this long scene is excellent. I was holding my breath and I noticed that my heart was beating rapidly. Something that rarely happens with movies now. A very welcome change. One of the biggest surprises for me was seeing Ethan Embry as the mechanic. I haven't seen him in a movie since I can't remember when. He has been one of my favorites since the early 90's when I was in junior high with "All I Want for Christmas" and "A Far Off Place". There's just something about him that I love. As good as "Vacancy" is though, I have to warn you about the ending. It's a bit abrupt. My lower rating of this movie is mostly affected by the ending. The actual ending of the movie happens, but this creepy, fast paced music continues to play, so you're expecting the stereotypical "he's not dead yet!" scare. This scare never comes. Had they changed the music and made it calmer, I probably would have been OK with how it ended. Music makes a world of difference in a movie, and this is the perfect example of that. The MPAA "R" rating of this movie is a bit absurd in my opinion. The gore is minimal, most of it is seen in the videos of the previous murders, and I don't recall there being any nudity. If there was any, it was most likely in those videos as well. I'm sure that if they had just taken out some of the bad language, this would have easily been PG-13 and probably would have found a bigger audience. "Vacancy" will probably fall quickly off the horror radar, if it hasn't already done so. Its fate is very unfortunate, since it's one of the better horror/suspense movies I've seen all year. email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
RSS | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | About MatchFlick® | Press | Contact Us | FAQs
Partnership and Advertising Opportunities | Movie Database | Merchandise ©2004-2008 MatchFlick®. All rights reserved. ©MOVIE IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED AND THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS |