Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson,
Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry
Written by Mark L Smith
Produced by Hal Lieberman
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 85 minutes
Directed by Nimrod Antal
It’s a slasher movie. In a motel. We have then, it’s fair to say, been on this territory in the past. Actually, for all the (inevitable?) clichés of the premise, initially this shows considerable promise with a fantastic intro, some believable characterisation, a sinister snuff movie twist, almost unbearable tension and then the realisation that there’s still an hour to go? Woo. Here we go, you think. Come gods of film and give me the heebie jeebies. However, that (always alarming) 15 certificate should provide all the warning sign you need. After cranking the tension up to 11 in those first 30 minutes, director Nimrod Antal — insert your own joke here — doesn’t just drop the ball. He sticks a pin in it, squeezes all the air out of it and then jumps on the remains.
The focus of the film are David and Amy, played by Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, a young-ish couple traveling back home after being forced to play happy families for a few days at her parents’ place. The reality though is that they’re both still mourning the loss of their child and are about to separate. David decides to take a detour to avoid traffic and — as the gravelly-voiced voice-over man would say — it’s a detour into hell itself. The car breaks down, they find a motel, the strange manager (Frank Whaley, nicely menacing for one so young), lets them have a room ... and it all goes pear-shaped. David, still wored from the drive, decides to relax with the TV. Unable to get a signal, he turns to the ancient video recorder and selection of tapes. The tapes turn out to be snuff movies. The snuff movies look: a) genuine; and b) like they’ve been filmed in their room. Which, indeed, they have and thus the torment begins. The ‘crew’ wants to get in. The ‘cast’ wants to keep them out. It’s a neat set-up and should cue a tortured drawn-out climax.
Which it does. Just not in the way you were hoping. The all pervading initial nastiness is soon sacrificed for gaping holes in the plot, formula psycho behaviour and quantum leaps in logic. It also annoys that David and Amy are intelligent, resourceful characters who, it’s clearly demonstrated, have both the balls and the wits to outsmart their would-be killers but end up doing little aside from running around screaming. The killers also don’t seem that fussed about breaking into the room. Yes, the constant pounding on windows is more menacing than just kicking the door down but it’s their motel. Would it really matter if they did smash a window? Nimrod — insert your second joke here — shows some promise but loses his nerve and the stuttering climax reeks of someone playing it safe. The outcome then is a horror film that doesn’t horrify, a thriller that doesn’t thrill.