Review of Vacancy (1999) by Henrik S — 19 Jun 2010
Vacancy takes your odd fireside scary story and stretches it into a movie. While the basic idea is somewhat grizzly, the appeal quickly wears off and what starts out as some minor guesswork ends up in a rather dull cat and mouse and chase where any plot elements are sacrificed for a formulaic rundown of your average shocker toolkit. Luke Wilson is more likable than most b-horror protagonists and makes this more engaging than it deserved to be. Here and there, the movie borders at the grotesque and a few moments of quirky self-awareness come up but not enough to make this a intentional b-movie homage. The ending is pretty much non-existent and while every movie has to end, there is nothing in this one that suggests that it did, no twist, no climax, no cliffhanger, nothing, what the heck. There are more plotholes than you care to find in a swiss cheese telling you a story.
For what it's worth, it is worth your time if you are into simple shockers and Luke Wilson is always nice to look at, but other than that, you've seen it all somewhere else.
HX.
This review of Vacancy (1999) was written by Henrik S on 19 Jun 2010.
Vacancy has generally received positive reviews.
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