Nima Yousefi's Equinox of Insanity

Vacancy

Ever since Khoi Vinh brought attention to the end credits of The Bourne Ultimatum I’ve been hyper-aware of the way credits are presented. It’s a sickness, really. I mention this because the opening credit sequence to the Luke Wilson/Kate Beckinsale thriller Vacancy is a typographic tour de force. Each credit is displayed on screen, then it twists and contorts into the next credit, each one leading deeper and deeper, until the final credit (always the director’s), at which point the camera pulls back to reveal the credits have formed the pattern of a maze, which then phases into the first shot of the film.

You’re probably wondering what the hell I’m talking about. Words, especially as poorly written as mine, don’t convey how awesome the credits are, so here the video of them that someone posted on YouTube:

As for the actual movie, I think it’s OK; good but not great. The story is fairly straight-forward: Wilson and Beckinsale are a couple that get lost and end being the only occupants of a motel run by psychopaths. The couple discovers video tapes in their room that show the rooms previous guests being murdered, and realize quickly that they’re being videotaped, and that they’re next.

Right from the start the film gives off a strong Hitchcock vibe. The way the characters are set up, the film’s aesthetic, the strong camera angles, the deliberate pacing, the constant sense of impending doom; all very Hitchcock, and all done very effectively.

So why am I not giving the film a more positive review? Two major problems…

First, there is absolutely no mystery about the film’s villains. I don’t feel I’m giving anything away by revealing that the jackasses that run the motel are the murderers. The film makes no effort to hide this fact. Compare this to what Hitchcock did in Psycho (the film that is most obviously related to Vacancy): in Psycho Hitchcock deliberately misleads the audience into believing that Mrs. Bates is the killer, making the revelation that it’s actually Norman shocking. Hitchcock was a master at creating very real mysteries around his villains; you never really know who you’re dealing with until the very end. Vacancy would have benefited greatly from this.

Second, Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale were terrible in the film. Both are certainly capable of doing good work, but Wilson looked fifteen pounds too heavy for the role, and Kate Beckinsale wasn’t wearing a pleather catsuit. That kinda sucked.

Overall I’d recommend the film, though with the warning that you shouldn’t get too excited about it. I think it might be more interesting on a technical level than it is at the basic story level.

Also…

The film was directed by Nimród Antal, who’s previous film was the absolutely captivating Hungarian film Kontroll (a fact I didn’t realize until after I watched Vacancy). Kontroll is set entirely in the Budapest subway, which leads to some incredibly interesting visuals. Between that film and this one I think it’s clear Antal has a very strong eye for film. I also recommend Kontroll… if you’re into Hungarian films set in subways.