Vacancy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Vacancy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 12, 2019

Director Nimród Antal's 2007 Thriller 'Vacancy' was previously released by Sony in 2007 and by Mill Creek in a double pack in 2014. This Mill Creek issue is currently only available in the 'Queens of Scream' triple feature, which is a rebrand of the same collection previously released by Mill Creek in 2016 under the title 'Horror Triple Feature' or '3 Triple Feature' depending on how literal one wants to be in the wording. Though the film shares precious disc real estate with two other pictures, the video quality is, at least, acceptable, as is the audio. Unfortunately, no extras are included; Sony's disc offers a few. See below for brief film and A/V reviews.

Bickering husband and wife pair David (Luke Wilson) and Amy (Kate Beckinsale) Fox find themselves trapped in a car with nowhere to go on an hours-long return trip from a family gathering. When car trouble stops them dead in their tracks -- and seems to be one more final nail in their marriage's coffin -- they serendipitously run into a seemingly kindly mechanic (Ethan Embry) just closing up shop. He pops the hood, fixes the problem, and refuses to take payment for his services but eventually trades the Fox's a sparkler for a twenty. The repairs are short-lived. The car breaks down a couple of miles down the road, leaving David and Amy no choice but to hike back to the service station, next to which is fairly shady-looking roadside motel. They are checked in by the hotel's oddball manager (Frank Whaley). Before the couple can even settle into their room and count the number of cockroaches infesting it, they are attacked by relentless pounding on doors, both their front door and the door connecting their room with the adjacent room that is supposedly unoccupied. David's complaints largely fall on deaf ears, and David and Amy quickly find themselves under assault and part of a scheme to record their deaths and turn the horrific events into a black market snuff film.

For a few additional thoughts on the film, see the original Blu-ray.com review of the 2007 Sony disc here.

Vacancy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Vacancy is not alone on this Mill Creek Blu-ray, sharing precious disc space with two other films. Fortunately Mill Creek has managed to produce a fairly filmic and representative 1080p presentation, boasting more than adequate detailing and solid black levels and shadow detail, critical to so many of the film's lower light interiors and nighttime exteriors, which define the vast majority of the film's runtime. A light grain structure appears throughout, helping to solidify core details which are never tack-sharp but that do reveal more than satisfactory skin, clothes, and environmental clarity. Colors fare well, particularly in the film's daylight finale but also in serving various accents in the room and the motel's neon glowing sign. Compression artifacts are seemingly ever-present but rarely appear at scene-breaking levels of visible intensity. A far cry from what it could be but more than watchable given the constraints, there's little room to criticize Mill Creek's presentation, particularly considering that the studio is all but giving this film away in the Queens of Scream triple pack.

Vacancy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Vacancy's sonics are constrained by a Dolby Digital 5.1 encode, but this one doesn't suffer quite the same low output volume problems and dynamic range limitations as the two films with which it shares a disc (I Know What You Did Last Summer and When a Stranger Calls). While both areas of concern are still problematic, there's a clear uptick in raw volume and a little more depth to the track as a whole. And that's a good thing, too, because the film relies on its sound design to fully immerse the listener into the film's chilling motel confines. Knocks and pounds on doors present with positive discrete location elements while some of the more frenetic sound details in the film's final act, and particularly in the climactic action scenes, are appropriately powerful and immersive. Certainly a lossless or uncompressed (as was the case with the aged Sony disc) encode would be preferable and would drive the track upwards beyond lossy's limitations, but like the video it's easy to live with the track when Mill Creek is charging a pittance for three films. Dialogue is clear and maintains a natural front-center position.

Vacancy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No extras are included. The Sony Blu-ray contains a featurette, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and "Extended Snuff Picks."

Vacancy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Vacancy is a lean, well made Thriller that brings its attention to the characters' confinement and the relentless assault on them through a very breezy runtime. Antal refuses to indulge in unnecessary fluff, building and executing the film with a sharp edge conducive to a bone-chilling journey though overnight terror. The film is not particularly gory, relying more on atmosphere to carry the picture. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is surprisingly decent considering it shares a disc with two other films. Neither video nor audio are at all bad, though both have much room for improvement. The lack of extras should not be a deterrent at this price, which is under $2 on average in the Queens of Scream triple pack. Recommended.