‘Vacancy’ delivers stereotypical thrills

If there were an official list of requirements for thriller films, “Vacancy,” directed by Nimród Antal, would have a check mark next to all of them. The tense car ride between frustrated and tired David Fox (Luke Wilson) and his bitter wife Amy (Kate Beckinsale) leads to the stereotypical engine breakdown, as well as the inevitable lack of cell phone service. More of these unoriginal ideas continue to seep into the plot as it thickens, but despite its by-the-book tendencies, “Vacancy’s” copy-cat thrills deliver.

The audience soon picks up that David and Amy are on the brink of a divorce, partially in response to the death of their young son. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere together is the last thing either of them wants. After walking about a mile back to a gas station, David and Amy see the brightly lit Pinewood Hotel that they had somehow failed to notice before.

Upon walking inside, they hear blood-curdling screams coming from the back room before meeting the small, wormy manager named Mason (Frank Whaley). After Mason explains, with a chuckle, that the noises were from a horror movie he was watching, he makes a comment along the lines of “Sometimes things get a little boring around here.” David and Amy soon discover that this statement is entirely too true.

The couple reluctantly decides to stay the night in the honeymoon suite (a mere $5 extra), only to find stained sheets, dirty towels and water that looked more like hot cocoa coming from the faucet. After turning on the television and popping in a couple of the tapes sitting on top of the VCR, David and Amy are horrified to realize that the footage is of people being tortured and killed in the very room they are staying in. They discover that Mason, accompanied by the two masked men who do the killing, is behind it, and the two spend the remainder of the movie working to escape.

Although Whaley succeeds in playing a creepy Mason, Antal fails to work in the psychological reasons for his serial killer behavior in the first place. The audience must assume it is from boredom. But, after several gruesome scenes, we hope that there is more to it. Wilson and Beckinsale do not have incredible chemistry, but the context of their relationship excuses them from having to perform too many “lovey dovey” scenes.

After they have escaped death several times, they kiss and hold each other closely, suggesting the current horrific state of things has rekindled their love. Though it adds to the formulaic quality of the film, the two actors manage to give the scene a freshness and a sweetness that is reflected by the audience’s firm desire for the Foxes to make it out alive. Overall, the scenes are woven together tightly, leaving virtually no room for the audience to yawn. The action is kept at a steady pace.

Though it breaks no new ground and leaves the audience with no mind-boggling themes to chew on, it is at least contained in 85 minutes. “Vacancy” may not overwhelm scary-movie aficionados with creativity or originality, but it provides what is expected of it. The eerie music, the silent tension, the incredibly unrealistic but still frightening worst-case scenario — it’s all there.

3 stars