I went to see Vacancy at the dollar theater tonight with Melanie and Brad. I had relatively low expectations.  The trailer seemed formulaic at best.

But there were a couple of reasons to see this movie:

1. Luke Wilson. He’s a good enough actor who just can’t buy a good role.
2. It only costs $1.

Vacany is a decent thriller. It relies on formulas that mostly work, but strays far enough from cliches to stay interesting. The acting is decent, and the premise is more original. As this is not a full review, I’ll summarize.

1. The antagonists are not a “happy couple” with a beautiful child or honeymooners. They’re a couple whose relationship is on the rocks. Why? Their kid died in an accident. This gave their characters more depth even standard lack of character development in horror films.
2. The plot is reasonble, while twisted. It’s unlikely. Maybe impossible. But not ridiculous.
3. The build up was well paced. No over the top “fooled ya!” “mood setting” distractions.
4. The lead protagonist is well cast. He isn’t creepy for the sake of being creepy. He’s just…creepy.
5. The struggle between the antagonists and protagonists is well timed and consistently intense. It doesn’t build to nothing, it isn’t overly graphic to the point of ruining the suspsense. It isn’t a roller coaster ride of emotions.
6. There aren’t gaping plot holes or decisions so terrible on the part of the heroes that you start cheering for the enemy.
7. Doesn’t over use “someone’s watching you” camera angles.
8. It adds some interesting updates to the Bates Motel, psycho setting.
9. There is some redemption in the relationships on screen.
10. The finale does not rely on feats of super human strength or girl power. (Though there is some.)
11. The title, lighting, and over all directing style is very much in the style of Alfred Hitchcock.

Anyway, I recommend seeing it. There are so many bad horror films out there, I think anytime one comes along that does some things right, it should be recognized.

7/10 stars.

The more movies I watch, the more convinced I am that every movie has a moral. Every movie has a life lesson or a point that you are supposed to get.

For instance, over Thanksgiving break, a few of us went to see Dejavu. Or something like that. The moral of that movie was clear and was most poignantly stated by Drew (aka D-rock). “”The moral of that movie was ‘You do not eff [sic] with Denzel.’”" Truer words hath no man spoke.

He’ll mess you up.

Tonight I watched Mission Impossible III for the second (II) time. The moral? You cannot kill Tom Cruise. I mean, you cannot. The world has not seen a gun, heat seeking missile, and/or explosive brain implant that can stop that man. You try, you’re going to die. It’s that simple.

Now I will leave you in peace to ponder what I’ve just said. I hope you’ve found it edifying.

Peace, love, and…more love.
Clifton