Review of Vacancy (1999) by Scott C — 05 Feb 2013

This film is a cliche horror done well, because you feel that there is no way out of this motel they are in. The fact that the villains where really creepy masks make me feel scared for them.

The movie works because of the performances of the main characters, to be honest everything else lacks in realism. The fact that they don't have a clue where they are, they let a mechanic who came out of knowhere to tamper with their car and the fact that some may feel the film resembles the film'physco' lack in offical horror all time greats but it's in my list because I feel it's a modern version of the film 'physco'.

Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale are such great connection on screen. Really great performances on their part but they seem a couple that should of been more prepared for their journey.

The film does have some pretty intense and suspensful scenes. I.e the crawling through a very claustrophobic tunnel with rats. Theres a moment in the film when David has a Jimmy Neutron brain wave coming up with a really clever stratergy which I admire because most horror films end up with the bad guy winning and the helpless victims literally bricking their selves and not attempting to survive. Also Amy decides to grow a pair after David basically saved her life.

Cinematography in this film uses mainly close up pale and sweaty shots from Andrjez Sekula. The only fault in this film is, it's a very short horror film and it's because of this it's difficult for the audience to engage with the couple and we cannot make our minds up to gage who will survive or not. It's refreshing and diffrent from other horror films because for once the characters seem to know what they are up against and from the moment they know we are rooting for them to survive.

The lighting is grimy and a lot of dark shadows and a wash out of bright colour makes the location seem real and once things get going in this movie it's hard to get off the rollercoaster.