Review

If Psycho and Peeping Tom are the seminal killer-as-voyeur movies, Vacancy is the nasty little runt offspring with no other purpose in life but to gnaw on you. This it does uncommonly well. You’ll be thrilled to know that today’s Norman Bates isn’t just a solitary freak. He has cameras everywhere, accomplices, and happy consumers for his snuff films. Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale play a couple on the verge of divorcing who end up in a seedy motel run by folksy-twitchy Frank Whaley—and let me tell you, if your marriage is in trouble, skip the therapist and find a psycho. Nothing brings people together faster. The Hungarian director, Nimród Antal, made a dazzlingly unpleasant subway thriller called Kontroll, and he’s a master of destabilizing perspectives and jack-in-the-box scares that actually scare you. Alas, that’s what horror is about these days: building the better audience trap. — David Edelstein

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• David Edelstein's Full Review (4/23/07)