Vacancy (2007)

Director:

Nimród Antal

Writer (WGA):

Mark L. Smith (written by)

Release Date:

20 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

How can you escape...if they can see everything?

Plot:

A young married couple becomes stranded at an isolated motel and finds hidden video cameras in their room. They realize that unless they escape, they'll be the next victims of a snuff film

Plot Keywords:

Motel | Trapped | Slasher | Hidden Camera | Snuff Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kate Beckinsale	...	Amy Fox
Luke Wilson	...	David Fox
Frank Whaley	...	Mason
Ethan Embry	...	Mechanic
Scott G. Anderson	...	Killer
Mark Casella	...	Truck Driver (as Mark Cassella)
David Doty	...	Highway Patrol
Norm Compton	...	Snuff Victim
Caryn Mower	...	Snuff Victim
Meegan Godfrey	...	Snuff Victim (as Meegan E. Godfrey)
Kym Stys	...	Snuff Victim
Andrew Fiscella	...	Steven R
Dale Waddington	...	Brenda B (as Dale Waddington Horowitz)
Ernest Misko	...	Snuff Victim (as Ernie Misko)
Bryan Ross	...	Snuff Victim
Chevon Hicks	...	Snuff Victim
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cary Wayne Moore	...	Snuff Guy #4 (uncredited)
Richie Varga	...	Snuff Guy #3 (uncredited)

Directed by
Nimród Antal

Writing credits (WGA)
Mark L. Smith		(written by)

Produced by
Stacy Cramer	....	executive producer (as Stacy Kolker Cramer)
Glenn S. Gainor	....	executive producer
Hal Lieberman	....	producer
Brian Paschal	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Paul Haslinger

Cinematography by
Andrzej Sekula

Film Editing by
Armen Minasian

Casting by
Lindsey Hayes Kroeger
David Rapaport

Production Design by
Jon Gary Steele

Art Direction by
Chris Cornwell

Costume Design by
Maya Lieberman

Makeup Department
Michelle Bühler	....	key makeup artist (as Michelle Buhler)
Cydney Cornell	....	hair stylist: Ms. Beckinsale
Yvonne Depatis-Kupka	....	key hair stylist
Robert Hall	....	special makeup effects designer: Almost Human
Eric Koo	....	sculptor: Almost Human
Scott Patton	....	special makeup effects concept designer
Erik Porn	....	lab technician: Almost Human
Darnell Shepherd	....	hair/lab technician: Almost Human Inc.
Vasilios Tanis	....	makeup artist: Ms. Beckinsale

Production Management
Glenn S. Gainor	....	unit production manager
Nicolas Stern	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ingrid K. Behrens	....	second second assistant director
Adam Druxman	....	first assistant director
Adam Druxman	....	second unit director
Adam Ben Frank	....	second assistant director: second unit
James Moran	....	second assistant director
Marc Newland	....	second second assistant director: second unit
Angela C. Tortu	....	first assistant director: second unit (as Angela Tortu)

Art Department
Tony Bohorquez	....	lead model maker
Claudia Bonfe	....	set dressing buyer
Max E. Brehme	....	property master
Paul Cunningham	....	gang boss
David Eckert	....	assistant art director
Rob Garlow	....	construction foreman (as Robert Garlow)
Todd Harris	....	storyboard artist
Brock Helfer	....	set dresser
Vinson Jae	....	stand-by painter
Richard W. Jones	....	stand-by greens
Mark Kelly	....	props assistant
Eric Koo	....	sculptor
Holiday Landa	....	art coordinator
John Markovich	....	on-set dresser
Ray Maxwell	....	stand-by carpenter
Johnny P. McIntyre	....	labor foreman
Barbara Mesney	....	set designer
Candice Muriedas	....	art assistant
John Naehrlich	....	lead man
Joe Ondrejko	....	construction coordinator
William V. Ryder	....	set designer
Christopher Schultz	....	assistant property master
Trey Shaffer	....	graphic designer
James E. Tocci	....	set designer (as James Tocci)
Kevan Weber	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Bill W. Benton	....	supervising sound mixer
Gaston Biraben	....	dialogue editor
Anthony J. Ciccolini III	....	supervising sound editor (as Chic Ciccolini III)
Rickley W. Dumm	....	sound effects editor (as Rickley Dumm)
Linda Folk	....	adr supervisor
Vincent Guisetti	....	foley artist
Jeffrey J. Haboush	....	sound re-recording mixer
Pamela Kahn	....	foley artist
Kurt Peterson	....	boom operator
Kyle Rochlin	....	foley mixer
Lynn Sable	....	assistant sound editor
Ed White	....	sound mixer
Brian Williams	....	sound designer

Special Effects by
Jason Dodd	....	special effects foreman
William N. Greene III	....	special effects foreman
John C. Hartigan	....	special effects coordinator (as John Hartigan)
Roger Lifsey	....	special effects foreman
Chris Walkowiak	....	special effects coordinator (as Christopher Walkowiak)

Visual Effects by
Levi Ahmu	....	visual effects artist
Casey Allen	....	Flame artist
Raoul Bolognini	....	visual effects producer (as Raoul Y. Bolognini)
Kristen Branan	....	head of production
Doug Cram	....	digital compositor
An H. Dang	....	technical assistant (as An Dang)
Spence Fuller	....	digital compositor
Scott Gregory	....	digital film colorist
Dmitri Gueer	....	visual effects editor: Zoic Studios
Paul Hill	....	digital compositor
Chris Ingersoll	....	Flame artist
Chris John Jones	....	creative director: Zoic Studios
Darren MacKay	....	digital compositor
Brian Nugent	....	Inferno artist
Brian Nugent	....	digital compositor
Rocco Passionino	....	visual effects supervisor
R. Matt Smith	....	compositing supervisor
Jakris Smittant	....	visual effects coordinator
Trevor Strand	....	digital compositor
Sean Wallitsch	....	Inferno artist
Loeng Wong-Savun	....	visual effects artist
Zachariah Zaubi	....	digital compositor
Thomas Nittmann	....	visual effects producer: Lola Visual Effects (uncredited)
Edson Williams	....	visual effects supervisor: Lola Visual Effects (uncredited)
Ryan Zuttermeister	....	visual effects coordinator: Lola Visual Effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Steve M. Davison	....	stunts (as Steve Davison)
Arturo Dickey	....	stunt rigger
Donna Evans	....	stunts (as Donna Evans Merlo)
Marvin Francis	....	stunt rigger
Lance Gilbert	....	stunt coordinator
Tim Gilbert	....	stunts
Troy Gilbert	....	stunts
Meegan Godfrey	....	stunts
Michael B. Johnson	....	stunts
Tracy Keehn-Dashnaw	....	stunt double
Diana R. Lupo	....	stunt double: Kate Beckinsale
Matt McColm	....	stunts
Dustin Meier	....	stunts
John Meier	....	stunts
T. Ryan Mooney	....	stunt double: Frank Whaley
Caryn Mower	....	stunts
Steve Picerni	....	stunts
Erik Rondell	....	stunts
Peter B. Simpson	....	stunt rigger
Kym Stys	....	stunt performer
Glen Yrigoyen	....	stunts
Jason Shupe	....	utility stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jake Avignone	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Gary Bevans	....	camera loader
Julian de la Pena	....	electrician
Matthew Fabian	....	grip
Michael Herron	....	digital video assist operator
Joe Hill	....	grip
Mark Hochman	....	computer/24 frame video engineer
Valentine Marvel	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Niles McElroy	....	lighting technician
Marc Meisenheimer	....	gaffer
Riggs Murdock	....	camera operator
Riggs Murdock	....	director of photography: second unit
Dwayne Platz	....	additional grip
David Schmalz	....	second video assist operator
Casey Sherrier	....	assistant camera
Abel Soto	....	best boy grip: second unit
Abel Soto	....	grip
Suzanne Tenner	....	still photographer
James 'Biff' Thomsen	....	electrician
Henry Tirl	....	Steadicam operator
Lance Jay Velazco	....	additional video assist operator
Robert Zullo	....	key grip
Sean Tuell	....	grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Barbara Harris	....	voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Amy Haffner	....	costumer
Heidi Higginbotham	....	costume supervisor
Leah Katznelson	....	costumer
Courtney Ormond	....	key costumer
Kanani Wolf	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Scott Gregory	....	digital film colorist
Blair Miller	....	editorial production assistant
David Reale	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Mark Curry	....	scoring mixer
John Jacobellis	....	assistant music editor
Tracy McKnight	....	executive soundtrack producer
Dave Porter	....	composer: additional music
Brian Richards	....	music editor
Brian Williams	....	composer: additional music
Chris Newlin	....	score production coordinator (uncredited)

Transportation Department
James G. Brill	....	driver
Dan Brizendine	....	transportation captain
Jayson Ehlers	....	transportation co-captain
J. Armin Garza II	....	driver: camera car
Irv Press	....	driver generator operator
Mike Storc	....	transportation
John Yarbrough	....	driver

Other crew
Lauren Abiouness	....	production assistant
Sara Bartkiewicz	....	production secretary
Jennifer Blair	....	production coordinator
Nicholas Brown	....	second assistant accountant
Randin Brown	....	production assistant
Linda Brown-Salome	....	unit publicist
Matthew Cardarople	....	assistant: Mr. Wilson
John Charles	....	software manager: Sony DAC
Kate Clarke	....	photo double: Kate Beckinsale
Missy Coggiola	....	assistant: Ms. Beckinsale
Nicky Craft	....	payroll accountant
Grant Cross	....	additional set production assistant
Ricky Cuevas	....	first assistant accountant
Bill Delaney	....	production assistant
Erin Dicker	....	assistant: Mr. Antal
Brian Dittmar	....	production assistant
Caleb Duffy	....	location manager
John Claude Fedrick	....	production assistant
Matthew F. Fuller	....	production assistant
Patricia A. Fullerton	....	script supervisor
Danny Giles	....	key set production assistant
Lindsay Hudson	....	set medic
Zachary Kahn	....	assistant location manager
Jeff Ketcham	....	production assistant
Jon Ko	....	medic
Lauren Brooke Kurfirst	....	assistant: Mr. Gainor
Cary Sato Lee	....	assistant craft service
Sergio Manzo	....	stand in/double
K. Lynn Martin	....	script supervisor: second unit
Carla Meyer	....	dialect coach
Caroline Miller	....	second assistant accountant
Jill Rosenblatt	....	production accountant
V.W. Scheich	....	production coordinator
Charlie Scott	....	key craft service
Charlie E. Scott Jr.	....	craft service
Tim Seitter	....	production assistant
Tyrrell Shaffner	....	production assistant
Sue Smith	....	assistant production coordinator
Katie Taylor	....	assistant: Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Paschal (as Katherine Taylor)
Jacob M. Torres	....	assistant location manager (as Jacob Torres)
Benton Ward	....	RF technician
Kelly Williams	....	assistant craft service
Sargon Yoseph	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Screen Gems (presents)
• Hal Lieberman Company

Distributors

• Screen Gems (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (2007) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2008) (Argentina) (all media)
• LK-TEL (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Net5 (2009) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2007) (Finland) (DVD) (blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• Almost Human (special makeup effects)
• Technicolor Digital Intermediates (opticals)
• Zoic Studios (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Animals of Distinction  animals provided by
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints
• Fisher Technical Services Rentals  camera & performer flying system
• Panavision  cameras and lenses
• Picture Mill, The  main and end titles designed and produced by
• Rockbottom Rentals  cell phone rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  cellular fax rentals
• Rockbottom Rentals  satellite phone rentals
• Sony Pictures Studios  post-production services
• Technicolor Digital Intermediates  digital intermediate
• Technicolor Digital Intermediates  opticals

MPAA:

Rated R for brutal violence and terror, brief nudity and language.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Ireland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:16 | Italy:T (with warning/VM12) | France:-12 | Australia:MA | South Korea:18 | Malaysia:18PL | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Italy:VM18 (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company:

Screen Gems

Trivia:

Sarah Jessica Parker was originally selected for the film, but dropped out and was replaced by Kate Beckinsale.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Even if the VCR could be programmed to start right up as soon as power is resupplied to it, it would pick up right where it left off before. In the shots that show the TV as power goes off and back on, when the picture comes back it shows a different scene in the snuff tape, giving the impression that the VCR was running when nothing else was.

Quotes:

[first lines]
David Fox: [after swerving while driving] Son of a bitch!
Amy Fox: What are you doing?
David Fox: It was a goddamn raccoon in the middle of the road!
Amy Fox: Well, better to kill us than get a little roadkill on the car, huh?
David Fox: Well, we're still alive. I can tell by the pissy look that you're giving me.

Movie Connections:

References Psycho (1960)

Promising Beginning, Corny and Commercial Conclusion

While driving during the night, David Fox (Luke Wilson) leaves the interstate and takes a shortcut through a lonely road. He is in a divorce process with his wife Amy (Kate Beckinsale), who is sleeping in the car, after the loss of their son Charlie. In order to avoid hitting a raccoon, David breaks down the fan of his car and the couple finds stranded in the road. Without any other alternative, they decide to spend the night in a nasty low budget motel in the middle of nowhere. While watching some amateurish slash movies in the VCR, David realizes that they have been shot in their room. Sooner they discover that they are trapped in the place and surrounded by sadistic filmmakers of snuff movies.

"Vacancy" has a promising and claustrophobic beginning, with the scared couple stranded in a lonely place with a weird manager of an awful motel and listening to aggressive beats in the doors of their room. The development is also tense and good. However, the corny and commercial conclusion like in a television film spoils the story. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Temos Vaga" ("Vacancy")