Vacancy

Its not worth checking in

By Brett Buckalew | Metromix

April 20, 2007

The husband and wife at the center of failed slasher-flick "Vacancy" are such whiny, constantly bickering nitwits that it's impossible to invest in their dire predicament.

Soon-to-be-divorced David (Luke Wilson, "Old School") and Amy (Kate Beckinsale, "Underworld") hurl sitcom-ready insults at each other as a way of coping with the death of their young son. When their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere at the tail end of their last trip together, they shack up at a motel so creepy it makes "Psycho's" Bates Motel look like the Four Seasons.

David and Amy quickly discover they aren't really guests, they're bait. They find a pile of videotapes in their room, each one a snuff film recording the gruesome murder of previous guests by the eerily chipper night manager (Frank Whaley, "Pulp Fiction") and his sadistic friends. With hidden cameras tracking their actions, they try to evade their knife-wielding pursuers while remaining within the guarded motel grounds. And if they're still alive by dawn, the crisis may just save their marriage.

Honestly, though: Who cares? Wilson and Beckinsale are both once-promising actors who have been phoning in their work for years now, and their apathy proves contagious. The far livelier Whaley hams it up, but fails to scare.

Director Nimród Antal (the Hungarian film "Kontroll") provides menace with a shadowy, sinister visual style. He's less skillful, however, at generating momentum and keeping the motel setting from inducing claustrophobia. As a result, the non-stop chases, attacks and narrow escapes grow increasingly monotonous.

There's material enough here for a good 20-minute short film, but as a feature, "Vacancy" overstays its welcome.