Motel 666

We’ve all been forced to stay at a ratty motel once in our lives. Be it for an out-of-town funeral (damn you, grandpa!) or because we were just too tired to keep on driving and needed a place to crash for the night. Sometimes there’s no air conditioning. Sometimes there are cockroaches. Sometime there’s no Spice Channel (damn you, grandpa!). And sometimes you’re monitored by hidden cameras and then raped and murdered; making you the stars of a snuff film sold in an underground market. What? That’s never happened to you? Geez people, live a little.

Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale play David and Amy Fox., a bitter married couple on the brink of divorce. Driving home from an out-of-town anniversary party, David decides to take the ever popular ’shortcut’ instead of the freeway. They then experience the ever popular ‘car trouble’ and are forced to stay in a cheap motel in the ever popular ‘middle of nowhere’. The motel is managed by the quirky, yet, creepy Mason (played more than effectively by Frank Whaley), who gives our couple the Honeymoon Suite as well as a case of the chills. In their room they find cockroaches, brown sink water and an issue of TV Guide from 1997. Determined to find some form of relaxation, David pops in a few VHS tapes lying next to the VCR. At first, they appear to be B-level horror flicks, but with a closer look, David and Amy realize that they are snuff films. With an even closer look, they realize that they were all filmed in the same room where they are staying. David quickly realizes that the room is being monitored by multiple video cameras and that if they don’t figure out an escape route, they’ll wind up on the next tape.

To my amazement, Nimród (’Kontroll’) Antal’s ‘Vacancy’ is a very taut thriller. Both Wilson and Beckinsale act convincingly and logically as they try to plan what seems to be an impossible escape. Whaley’s performance is near award worthy and Ethan Embry has a small but notable role as a somewhat-helpful auto mechanic. The film is shot quite nicely and is treated by a minimal but effective score. For a mainstream release, it surprisingly has its share of terrifying moments as well as a few shocking.

The only downfall I could find was its less than clever beginning with the car trouble and all, but Wilson and Beckinsale’s performances make it seem near believable.

With a pretty good marketing campaign (call toll free 1-888-9-VACANCY for a bit of witty banter from Mason), a sound cast and an all around eerie plot, it’s surprising that the film came in fourth place at the box office. So do yourself a favor and check out this great little thriller before the theaters snuff it out for good.

The Hidden Message: Psh’my snuff collection is totally better than Mason’s.