Vacancy (15)

Kate Beckinsale finds herself in a seedy motel in Vacancy

Torture is big box office these days and Vacancy finds itself sandwiched in between Paradise Lost, which came out two weeks ago, and Hostel 2, which comes out at the end of the month.
The set-up here is pretty predictable. Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson are a couple who find themselves forced to take refuge in a seedy motel.
Making the best of a bad job they start to watch a video that has been left in their room.
It turns out to be a snuff movie and, to their horror, it appears to have been filmed in their motel with the previous occupants as its stars.
And it looks like the makers are hoping for a sequel, this time with Wilson and Beckinsale as the stars. With this kind of 'by the numbers' intro a film like Vacancy really has to deliver big at the end.
Not only does this one fail to do so, the failure is likely to turn you against all the good things that have gone before.
There is a lot to admire about Vacancy. Hungarian director Nimrod Antal builds tension and atmosphere nicely to the point where the film starts to resemble a 70s video nasty in places.
In the end the film promises so much more than it delivers and it is hard not to feel cheated.
Director: Nimrod AntalRunning time: 84mins

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