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"VACANCY" (2007) (Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Heavy Extreme Extreme Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Moderate Extreme None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Heavy Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: A couple on the verge of divorce must fight for their lives when they end up trapped in a remote motel used to make snuff films. PLOT: David (LUKE WILSON) and Amy Fox (KATE BECKINSALE) are an unhappily married couple literally and figuratively headed on their way for a divorce following the untimely death of their young son sometime in the past. While driving to some small remote town at night, David ends up getting lost, which is also when they develop car problems. After breaking down, they hike back to the Pinewood Motel in hopes of finding a mechanic, but with it being so late, any such garage near or far is closed for the night. The somewhat odd motel manager, Mason (FRANK WHALEY), informs them that he has rooms, and with no better option, the couple reluctantly agrees to stay there until morning. Seedy, old, and dirty, their motel room isn't desirable, which also holds true for the limited in-room entertainment options. With no TV reception, David pops in an unmarked videotape only to discover that it appears to be a snuff film taped in their room. With subsequent tapes proving to be the same thing but with different victims, the couple becomes quite concerned, especially following a bout of some unseen person calling their room and loudly pounding on the door. Realizing they're being watched and now trapped in the room after trying to make a run for it only to be chased back by some masked men, David and Amy do what they can to survive, knowing full well that they're the stars of the latest snuff film production. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into serial killer type flicks or are fans of either of the leads, they might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For brutal violence and terror, brief nudity and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: LUKE WILSON plays a husband not happy or comfortable with the idea that he and Amy are about to be divorced. With tension between them, he snipes at her just as she does at him, but then puts all of that behind them when they realize they're about to be the next victims in a series of snuff films. He uses strong profanity. KATE BECKINSALE plays his wife, constantly irritated and angered by most everything about him, much of which apparently stems from the untimely death of their young son sometime in the past. She uses strong profanity and battles the villains. FRANK WHALEY plays the motel manager who acts creepily around the couple before finally revealing his true colors of being one of the sadistic killers. He uses strong profanity and tries to kill Amy. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated suspense thriller. Profanity consists of at least 35 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. A bit of sexually related dialogue is present, as is the brief and fairly small view of a woman's bare breasts as she's terrorized by the killers (seen on a TV screen). Violence consists of various deaths (by stabbings, gunfire, and being hit by a car), some of which directly involve the making of "snuff" films. Those incidents have varying degrees of bloody results, and those scenes and much of the rest of the film might be fairly intense, suspenseful or downright scary to some viewers. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, including the killers as well as a husband and wife toward each other as their marriage is near its end (due to the earlier, unseen death of their young son). If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of handheld camerawork in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE David comments on Amy sleeping for the past 300 miles due to the Zoloft and Prozac "cocktail" she had earlier. BLOOD/GORE The manager mentions that the maid finds, among other things, "sh*t in the toilet" the day after college students break into the motel rooms. We hear the sound of Amy flushing the toilet, but don't hear or see any earlier related activity. Some tortured women are bloody in one of the snuff films. David and Amy find a partially cut apple in the motel room's bathroom, and it has a little blood on it. A sheriff is stabbed in the gut with a knife (we don't see the impact, but do see some blood drip down onto his shoe). Two men are rather bloody after being killed. A killer has some bloody fingernail scratch marks on his face after Amy scratches him there. We see blood on a man's shirt as he's shot, and then some from his mouth and more on the floor. David has a little blood on his mouth from a recent attack. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE The murderers obviously have bad attitudes for trapping, playing with, and then killing their victims, all for their snuff-film satisfaction. David and Amy have bad attitudes toward each other (in a failed marriage sort of way). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful, or scary to viewers, especially younger ones and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. David swerves to avoid hitting a raccoon on the road at night, resulting in the car nearly crashing. When Amy and David first enter the motel, they hear horrible screaming and crying sounds from an unseen woman, but the manager implies it was just on TV when he holds up the remote. A roach falls from a light switch and then scurries across the floor in the motel room. The phone suddenly rings in the room, followed by sudden loud banging at the door. David goes to look, but there's no one there. Moments later, the phone rings again and there's additional loud banging, from both the front door and the one leading into the adjacent room. With no TV reception, David pops in an unmarked video tape that appears to be that of a snuff film. We see two men hoisting up a man via ropes into a hanging position, with the man being bloody. David then jokes that it gets the honeymooners in the mood, and then says at least they could give them a little porn. He then pops in another tape that shows another snuff film showing men throwing scantly clad women around the room (we briefly see one's breasts in several quick views), before bashing one's head to the wall and stabbing the other several times. At the end of their rampage, the two women appear to be dead. David and Amy discover that they're in the same motel room where the snuff films were made, and they then find surveillance cameras in various locations inside the room. The power repeatedly goes on an off in the motel room, as someone bangs on the door and we see glimpses of another snuff film on TV starting and stopping. We then see a flash image of a killer behind David and Amy in the room. David and Amy discover that the small bathroom window has been nailed shut. David slowly approaches the shower and yanks the curtain open, only to find no one there. David and Amy make a run for it outside, but encounter two masked men who end up chasing them back into the motel room. David sneaks out to the pay phone to call for help, but it's the manager who answers the phone. David then sees an approaching vehicle and gets out of the booth just as a car swings through and smashes into it. That car then chases David back into his motel room. We see a figure behind Amy. David and Amy spot a trucker arrive and they then wave from their room for him to help. As he cautiously does, we see the killers approach him from behind, and the couple tries to alert him, but he turns out to be one of the bad guys. David finds a trap door in the bathroom floor, peeks down inside the dark area, and then gets Amy to join him in crawling through the dimly lit, dirt tunnels. As they do so, they come across a large number of rats on the dirt floor, with Amy doing everything in her power not to scream, not only from the rats -- including when one crawls across her -- but also her apparent claustrophobia. They end up in the manager's video surveillance room, but then head back into the tunnel when they hear someone coming. We then see that the killers are coming after them, one from one end of the tunnel, and the other from the other end, with at least one armed with a knife. A sheriff responds to Amy's incomplete 911 call and starts looking around, with the manager directly behind him (he knows he's there, but we think he's going to kill the cop). The manager then leaves to get some keys, but the sheriff finds a door open, and slowly goes in and looks around the dimly lit room. After finding a broken TV, bathroom mirror and a snuff video playing on another TV, he draws his gun and exits the motel room. When Amy and David rush toward him, he aims his gun at them, but then stops when he realizes they're victims. A person gets out of a car that won't start, and is then stabbed to death. David and Amy try to hold down a large, overturned table that's sitting on a trap door in the floor. The killer below it is trying to get out, and repeatedly swings his knife at David, but can't hit him or get out. David and Amy race back to their motel room where David tries to close the door, but a killer gets his arm inside and starts grabbing at him. David then repeatedly slams the door into that man's arm, causing him to withdraw it. As Amy hides up in the attic and can hear and partially see everything below her, David goes to leave, but is surprised by a killer at the door who stabs him in the gut (we don't see the actual impact). Amy then tries not to make any sound as David tries to crawl away from the killers, seriously wounded. As Amy crawls across the motel room floor, we see a killer come up behind her. She then runs outside, gets to a car and starts it, just as a killer jumps on the car and tries to grab her through the open sunroof. She peels away with the man halfway in the car, but then crashes into the motel, smashing another killer against the wall. Both that man and the one in the sunroof die and are very bloody. Amy stands on her tiptoes trying to reach a gun above her, but just when she gets it, a killer wraps something around her neck and then bashes her about the room that way. She then scratches his face with her nails (leaving bloody marks), prompting him to knock her down and then repeatedly punch her on the floor (behind a wall, just out of the camera shot, although we can hear what he's doing and see most of the motion). She then kicks him in the crotch to try to escape, but he grabs her again and violently throws her all around the room into various things. She ends up falling on the handgun that she then fires into him repeatedly, with bloody results. Amy goes to get keys out of the pocket of a presumably dead man, but we see he's still alive (and think he's going to get Amy, but he doesn't). GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Knives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound, or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck you," "Why the f*ck are they doing this?" "What the f*ck's he doing here so late?" "F*ck no," "F*cking bitch," "Shut the f*ck up," "You think you can f*ck with this/me?" "It's a little late for this sh*t," "She's as sticky as an old whore" (said about a door), "You can tell by the pissy look you're giving me," "See how big a bitch you'd be about it," "Idiots," "The hell is that?" "Jerk-off" and "We'll get the hell out of here." It's possible the film could inspire some troubled kids to make similar style "snuff" films. David wraps his fist in a towel and punches a mirror to create a shard of glass he can use as a weapon. JUMP SCENES A person is suddenly at the car window. The phone suddenly rings in the room, followed by sudden loud banging at the door. Moments later, there's additional loud banging at the door. A person is suddenly at the window. A figure passes by a window. A sudden thump on a trap door in the floor might startle some viewers. A man suddenly grabs at Amy through an open sunroof on a car. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the room. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 35 "f" words, 7 "s" words, 1 slang term using male genitals ("pr*ck"), 4 asses (all used with "hole"), 4 damns, 3 hells, 3 S.O.B.s, 4 uses of "Jesus," 3 each of "God," "Jesus Christ" and "Oh God," 2 of "G-damn" and 1 use each of "My God," "Oh my God" and "Swear to God." SEX/NUDITY About a stuck door, the manager says, "She's as sticky as an old whore." With no TV reception, David pops in an unmarked video tape that appears to be that of a snuff film. We see two men hoisting up a man via ropes into a hanging position, with the man being bloody. David then jokes that it gets the honeymooners in the mood, and then says at least they could give them a little porn. But the next tape he tries is also that of a snuff film where the killers terrorize two scantly clad women, at least one of which shows bare breasts several times (very briefly -- in a small image on the TV). Although never explicitly stated or observed, there's obviously some sort of sexual nature to those who participate in and/or later watch the snuff films. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES David and Amy have a strained marriage and there's talk of their pending divorce. Until the mayhem begins, each snipes at the other over various things, especially when their son Charlie comes up in conversation. We later learn he's dead, with David telling her not to think it was her fault. Amy finds a photo of their dead son and sheds a tear. Amy worries about David once he's been seriously wounded. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Snuff films and what would lead someone to make and/or enjoy watching that. How the death of a child can often lead to a husband and wife having marital issues. Staying in old, rundown, and/or just plain dirty motels. VIOLENCE Amy accidentally cuts her finger with a knife while cutting an apple (no blood is seen). With no TV reception, David pops in an unmarked video tape that appears to be that of a snuff film. We see two men hoisting up a man via ropes into a hanging position, with the man being bloody. David then jokes that it gets the honeymooners in the mood, and then says at least they could give them a little porn. He then pops in another tape that shows another snuff film showing men throwing scantly clad women around the room (we briefly see one's breasts in several quick views), before bashing one's head to the wall and stabbing the other several times. At the end of their rampage, the two women appear to be dead. Another snuff film shows another stabbing (no impact). David sneaks out to the pay phone to call for help, but it's the manager who answers the phone. David then sees an approaching vehicle and gets out of the booth just as a car swings through and smashes into it. That car then chases David back into his motel room. David wraps his fist in a towel and punches a mirror to create a shard of glass he can use as a weapon. A just off-screen stabbing is partially seen on a video playback on a TV monitor. David and Amy try to hold down a large, overturned table that's sitting on a trap door in the floor. The killer below it tries to get out, and repeatedly swings his knife at David. A sheriff is stabbed in the gut with a knife (we don't see the impact, but do see some blood drip down onto his shoe). David and Amy race back to their motel room where David tries to close the door, but a killer gets his arm inside and starts grabbing at him. David then repeatedly slams the door into that man's arm, causing him to withdraw it. As Amy hides up in the attic and can hear and partially see everything below her, David goes to leave, but is surprised by a killer at the door who stabs him in the gut (we don't see the actual impact). As Amy crawls across the motel room floor, we see a killer come up behind her. She then runs outside, gets to a car and starts it, just as a killer jumps on the car and tries to grab her through the open sunroof. She peels away with the man halfway in the car, but then crashes into the motel, smashing another killer against the wall. Both that man and the one in the sunroof die and are very bloody. Amy stands on her tiptoes trying to reach a gun above her, but just when she gets it, a killer wraps something around her neck and then bashes her about the room that way. She then scratches his face with her nails (leaving bloody marks), prompting him to knock her down and then repeatedly punch her on the floor (behind a wall, just out of the camera shot, although we can hear what he's doing and see most of the motion). She then kicks him in the crotch to try to escape, but he grabs her again and violently throws her all around the room into various things. She ends up falling on the handgun that she then fires into him repeatedly, with bloody results. Reviewed April 18, 2007 / Posted April 20, 2007

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