Review of Vacancy (2007) by Michaell. — 25 Apr 2007

With more plot holes than Swiss cheese, you can't really take "Vacancy" seriously. That said, it still scared the living daylights out me. It's good old fashioned creep-out suspense--not the usual blood and guts stupidity of today's slasher films.

Not that I'm comparing "Vacancy" to Hitchcock's "Psycho", but it's clearly a lowbrow homage--from the opening credits, to the locale, to the creepy desk clerk (played by Frank Whaley, who seems to be performing in a different film, he's sooooooo over-the-top Snidley Whiplash), to the almost total lack of bloodiness.

The last point is key--horror can still be achieved without gore, with a tidy idea, excellent leads (Beckinsale and Wilson are great) and effective cinematography. Not to mention the best credits I've seen in a decade.