Vacancy

Vacancy (2007)

Timing: 1:25 (85 min)

6.2/10
1402

6.432/10
17603

6.2/10
106024

All about film

Video 8

Photo 27

Actors and characters

Release date

2007-04-20

Country

United States

Production

Screen Gems, Hal Lieberman Company

Genre

Horror, Thriller

Budget

$19 000 000

Revenue

$35 300 645

Website

Director

Nimród Antal

Actors

Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry, Scott G. Anderson, Mark Casella, David Doty, Norm Compton, Caryn Mower, Meegan E. Godfrey
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Hal Lieberman, Stacy Cramer, Brian Paschal

Operator

Andrzej Sekula

Composer

Paul Haslinger

Artist

Audition

David Rapaport, Lindsey Hayes Kroeger

Editing

Armen Minasian, Nicolas Stern
All team (69)

• The scene where the heroes' BMW crashes into the motel wall was filmed live, without the use of computer graphics.
• The film was advertised online, as well as using a special phone number. Calling the number mimicked a call to the motel where the main characters were staying. The background for the motel owner's voice in the recording consisted of distant screams, and the owner himself told the caller about “killer” prices and conditions. The text in the recording was read by Frank Wailey, who played the motel manager in the film.
• All the snuff videos (snuff videos – short films showing actual murder without any special effects) were filmed on the first day of shooting.
• The motel featured in the film was specifically built for the shoot (rather than using an existing one). Moreover, two such structures were built – one for filming interior scenes, and another for exterior shots. Director Nimrod Antal later recounted that after filming, he often felt the urge to take a shower – the film crew had done such a good job of creating a motel that looked old and neglected.
• Sarah Jessica Parker was originally cast in the role played by Kate Beckinsale, but she left the project.
• Both the film crew and the actors involved repeatedly emphasized that the film was created as a tribute to old-school horror films, primarily Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960). This is why the focus is on fear generated by the unknown and uncertainty, rather than visible violence.
• When the officer inspects the room in the motel, he initially notices a broken television. However, when he is about to leave the room, a snuff film is shown on the television, and the television itself is shown to be working.