VACANCY
With
Kate
Beckinsale,
Luke
Wilson,
Frank
Whaley,
Ethan
Embry,
Scott
G.
Anderson,
Mark
Casella
Written
by
Mark
L.
Smith
Directed
by
Nimród
Antal
The
neon
motel
vacancy
sign
instantly
sends
one’s
mind
towards
Alfred
Hitchcock’s
Psycho.
That
is
however
where
most
of
the
similarities
end
–
and
not
for
the
better.
The
snuff
movie
theme
has
now
certainly
run
its
course.
Here
a
couple
with
a
troubled
relationship
ends
up
at
a
crappy
motel
after
running
into
car
trouble.
What
they
encounter
is
not
just
dirty
linen
and
crap
TV
channels,
but
a
nightmare
trap
making
them
the
prey.
The
entire
place
is
rigged
with
cameras
to
capture
hapless
“guests”
being
slaughtered
by
masked
killers.
The
cat
and
mouse
game
has
some
tense
moments,
but
also
too
many
predictable
ones.
Luke
Wilson
naturally
tried
to
reach
outside
of
the
romantic
comedy
typecast
mold
and
Beckinsale
flipped
the
coin
from
confident
gun-toting
vampire
in
the
Underworld
movies
to
a
fear-stricken
wife
in
peril.
In
both
cases,
it
is
not
always
convincing.
I’m
quite
surprised
that
this
actually
led
to
a
sequel…
Special
features
include
a
look
behind
the
scenes,
an
alternate
opening
sequence,
deleted
scenes,
and
(probably
only
for
the
sadistic
freaks
out
there)
extended
snuff
scenes.
2
/
C
-
Paul
Blom
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
-
A
-
B
-
C
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