Vacancy (2007)
Directed by: Nimród Antal
Sony Pictures
Rating: 7.5 of 10

In a world of over the top special effects and uneventful plots, it's nice to see a movie that can be simple, yet suspenseful in its own right. Vacancy, starring Luke Wilson as David Fox and Kate Beckinsale as Amy Fox, is predictable, but doesn’t rely on flashy special effects to compensate.

Vacancy begins with the cookie-cutter horror beginning of taking the shortcut through the middle of nowhere in the wee hours of the night. In the midst of arguments between soon to be divorcees, David and Amy, the car breaks down and the only place they can wait until morning is in a creepy, filthy motel run by the lonely hotel manager, Mason, played by Frank Whaley. The motel alone is enough to get your skin crawling, but Mason puts the icing on the cake.

As the couple begins to settle in for the night, husband David, feels the need to watch television to settle his nerves. He pops in a video, and to the couple’s disbelief, the video contains the savage attack of a couple in the very room they are staying in. Unarmed and seemingly waiting to be the killer’s next victim, the couple's defeated attitude switches into survival mode.

This movie contains every ingredient of a cheesy, predictable thriller without being just that. Loaded with the jump-out-of-your-seat moments and character twists, Vacancy actually turns out to be a great horror flick without the run of the mill gore. The audience will become totally entrenched in the movie’s suspense that literally every fingernail will be chewed to no end. The intensity of this movie is awesome; I’d recommend it to horror movie lovers everywhere!