Tuesday, July 15, 2014

NO VACANCY: WATCHING LEAVES YOUR MIND VACANT

I love horror films. If you read enough of what I write you already know this. That's why when I see a sloppy horror film that attempts to take the genre and just add another log on the fire but in the worst way possible I get upset. I sit and wonder why, with so many films that are waiting to be made, why was it this film in particular got the green light or someone to invest in it? Case in point NO VACANCY.

The movie tells the story of 7 friends on a vacation trip. These stereotypes have been done so often that you recognize them instantly. The nerd of the group is filming everything with his video camera. The male member of one couple is the bully, always picking on the nerd. The group would have been 8 had not the nerd's girlfriend bowed out at the last minute. A roadblock alters their route and suddenly they have two blowouts in the middle of nowhere. Imagine my surprise when a truck shows up and a guy gives them a lift to town.

Here comes the only new twist added to an aging genre. Spoiler alert if you care to watch this movie. They're taken to a nearby town where everyone treats them well. They get free drinks, free food and free motel rooms. But during the night they're gassed and wake to find themselves tied or imprisoned in their rooms. It turns out the entire town is involved in killing the group. Why isn't revealed until the very end but clues were given in the seemingly insignificant opening montage.

The movie falls into the genre known as torture porn with the killers less intent on killing their prey than they are in coming up with "creative" ways to kill them. I have yet to understand this in any movie or TV series, the whole idea that now that you have the good guy in your hands why you don't just shoot him but instead take the time to explain just why you are shooting him and instead give him a lecture about how badly you were treated as a child or some other nonsensical reason. It always allows time for them to find a way to escape.

If that wasn't enough to steer you clear of this film the ending should. It leaves it open for the possibility of a sequel even though from what you witnessed taking place there should have been no chance of that. If only.

The acting is passable with the exception of the leader of the killers who comes off as an actor portraying a role. For me that's the determining factor when I view actors. Did you make me believe you weren't acting? If not, you stink. This guy stinks. So much that I didn't want to watch who got credit for portraying that role. That was a mistake on my part because had I paid closer attention I would have known not to watch anything else he does in the future.

If you feel compelled to watch movies in the torture porn genre, if you will watch any movie at all that falls into the horror genre, then by all means give this one a watch. As for myself I think I'll let all I know that this movie isn't worth your time.

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