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THE MOVIE: Vacancy

THE STARS:
Luke Wilson • Kate Beckinsale
DIRECTOR: Nimrod Antal

THE CONCEPT:
A married couple (Wilson and Beckinsale), still traumatized by the death of their child, check into a decrepit motel after their car breaks down in the middle of the night. Once they get into their room, they realize they are in more trouble than just dealing with dirty sheets and creepy bugs when they find a snuff film in the VCR – and figure out that it was shot in that very room. From then on it’s a fight for survival for the couple, and it’s all caught on tape…

U.S. RELEASE: April 20 2007, Nationwide • Rated: R

THE COMMENTS:

It’s a simple story, and it does seem to cut to the chase as opposed to the other Horror movies in the marketplace these days. Was that one of the things that attracted you to Vacancy?
NIMROD ANTAL:
“Well, first, it’s really not a typical horror film. Films like Saw or Hostel come to mind when we’re talking about horror films – very dependent on gore and shock. Whereas we were more about tension and the build, so we see very little violence, and we see very little blood. It’s much more of an emotional ride.”

Do you worrythat audiences could walk into seeing Vacancy expecting to see blood and viscera splattered everywhere à laSaw or Hostel, and will come away disappointed that there wasn’t that graphic violence?
ANTAL:
“No, because at the same time, what it lacks in gore, it certainly makes up for in other departments, which these other films don’t have. If people go to be frightened, they will – and more so than they would at some of those other films.”

You have a cast in Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale that is a cut above the usual teeny-boopers that inhabit films such as this these days. Were you surprised that they were available and wanting to be on this project?
ANTAL:
“Obviously, for me, it was a blessing to work with the both of them. The fear and frustrations that the viewers are going to experience are only experienced through these two people, and to be able to maintain that sense of fright all the way through was, for the both of them, an enormous challenge, and they really did it very well. It was never a concern of mine as far as their performance, because I was so fortunate to work with two people of their caliber.”

Are there critters in the nasty hotel room the couple get stuck in?
ANTAL:
“You only meet one bug in Vacancy.”

Was it one of those exclusive bugs?
ANTAL:
“That bug was a problem. He wouldn’t come out of his trailer. Ego – a really big ego. I think he saw the rats had a bigger trailer than he did and he didn’t like it.”

So there are more rats than bugs in the movie?
ANTAL:
“Yeah, we have rats, and we have the bug – who, by the way, I don’t think is going to work in this town again!”

Written by David Waldon. Back to top

Visit the official Vacancy site
Images above © Screen Gems, Sony Pictures
Feature © 2007 Visual Imagination Limited.
Not for reproduction.

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