don't go out to the woods/ dessert/ country today, if you're American! (Vacancy (DVD))

Member Name: forestgateaux

Product:	Vacancy (DVD)
Date:	04/11/08 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Proper suspense and well acted

Disadvantages: probably a bit too much blood and guts for some

There are very few generally scary horror films about today.

They either fall under the category of 'teen horror slashers' - your 'screams', 'prom queens', 'i know what you did last summers' etc, or they are frankly plain disgusting and upsetting rather than scary (like Saw, Hostel etc).

I am a big horror fan, i love watching one with a pile of junk food, and all of the above would be acceptable to me, but i'd be a bit disappointed after.

I thought Vacancy was a perfect mixture of suspence and gore and had good acting to top it off. True, it did brush the 'torture porn' genre of the Saw films, but I think it did it well and scarcely.

The film stars Luke Wilson (usually to be seen in the fantastically funny films of Wes Anderson, so this was a real change for him) and Kate Beckinsdale as a a couple on the road who break down and have to stay in a run down motel, miles from anywhere. In their room they find a pile of video cassettes and on watching them realise they show horrific murders and rapes in the very room they are in! What follows is a suitably terrifying story of suspense and shocks as the couple wait for the creepily cheery hotel owner and 2 mystery men to come and attack them, and their various attempts at escape.

It follows suit of all those fantastic horror flicks about freaky Americans in remote areas! I love hillbilly films so this is right up my street.

It features some pretty graphic and gorey horror but not as often as Hostel and not as extreme as Saw. It doesn't seem that this is gore for gores sake. Generally i would describe it as a suspense film more than anything else.

Kate Beckinsdale is quite good in the female role. I liked her assertive attitude, saving the day, and not just cowering like women usually do. I may be mistaken but I don't think we saw her in her underwear either, which is a refreshing change for horror films!

I did review the ending here as well, but have been told off for it, so i've removed it now. All i will say is i was pleased with it!

Summary: if you're a fan of horror try this. if you're not you'll hate it