Motel (film)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title motel
Original title Vacancy
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2007
length 85 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Nimród Antal
script Mark L. Smith
production Hal Lieberman ,
Stacy Cramer ,
Hal S. Gainor ,
Brian Paschal
music Paul Haslinger
camera Andrzej Sekuła
cut Poor Minasian
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
Motel: The First Cut

Motel is a horror thriller and the US debut of the Hungarian director Nimród Antal . After 8mm - Eight Millimeters (1999; leading role: Nicolas Cage ) it is the second major Hollywood production to deal with the subject of snuff films . The prequel Motel: The First Cut was released as a DVD production in 2008.

action

David and Amy Fox break down their car in a deserted area and decide to spend the night in a nearby motel . The mood between the two has been very icy since their son's accidental death - they are about to divorce .

The motel room turns out to be extremely shabby and there are also strange knocking noises from the neighboring room. When asked by the manager, they find out that there are no other guests in the motel. When David puts one of the video cassettes lying around in the recorder, the two of them watch a film in which several people are brutally killed. To their horror, David and Amy realize that the action is taking place in the exact same room they are in. They try to escape, but the motel manager and his assistants, who turn out to be the culprits, are already on their heels.

They escape the room through an underground tunnel system and enter the manager's office, where they discover the monitors that follow their every step. They manage to make an emergency call, but the police officer who is summoned is murdered by the killers. When David brings Amy to safety, he is stabbed by a killer outside the door. The next morning Amy finally succeeds in a desperate fight to run over the two killers and kill the manager with his revolver . She calls the police again while David, who did not succumb to the stab wounds, comes to.

Reviews

Carsten Baumgardt describes the film on filmstarts.de as a "visually chic, stylish horror thriller, which, however, in the end cannot hide the fact that nothing more and nothing less than mediocre-solid genre goods is offered".

“In terms of content, it is not very original, but formally at times inspired by an astonishing will to style, the horror thriller entertains primarily with suspense instead of bloody effects. Of course, the film loses a lot of tension due to the lack of craftsmanship and listless actors. "

“People have always been afraid of the unknown, narrow spaces that seem like a cage that cannot be broken through, the constant flight, the feeling of being helplessly at the mercy of their pursuers and of being in a state of powerlessness; Nimród Antal combines all of these elements by portraying the murderers as a faceless threat for a good half of the film and by placing the emotional level of the victims in the foreground. "

- Critic.de

background

Motel is a kind of homage from director Nimród Antal to Alfred Hitchcock . There are numerous references to Hitchcock's horror classic Psycho : the motel, the stuffed birds on the reception desk, the torn down bathroom curtain. In this context, the artistically designed opening credits by Trey Shaffer should also be mentioned, which are very reminiscent of the title sequences by Saul Bass for numerous Hitchcock films, including Psycho .

Sarah Jessica Parker was originally slated for the role of Amy Fox.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Release certificate for motel . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2007 (PDF; test number: 110 496 K).
  2. ^ Motel: The First Cut. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 10, 2015 .
  3. ^ Motel on filmstarts.de
  4. ^ Motel in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used
  5. Short review on Critic.de
  6. Background information according to the Internet Movie Database