Over the weekend, one of the many great movies I watched was Vacancy (with Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale). The plot from beginning to end is not original; but the directing, acting, and cinematography is. The movie is actually a well-produced 60's drive-in horror flick, and it is obviously aware of it (the opening credits alone give you all the proof you need).All said, I was actually scared in a way that I haven't been since Blair Witch, and for many of the same reasons. The characters were flawed. Not overly so, but totally believable and sympathetic. The horror was tactically real; the victims knew what was coming and reacted to it. But, unlike so many bad thrillers, the heroes/victims were believably scared and acted as such; and the villains were just as believable and also flawed. That dichotomy led to some great tension, a tension that most horror movies never achieve.
Great scary fun; I heartily recommend it.
Note: the director also did Kontroll, which is fucking great.
Note 2: one of the directors of Blair Witch made a great movie called Altered. Rent it if you can: it's a surprise cult hit. He and the writer of that movie are making another movie, and I can't wait. .
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