Motel 2

In 2004, the redneck managers of the Meadow View Motel Gordon (David Moscow) and Reece (Brian Klugman) use room 6 to videotape the intimacy of the guests to sell porn movies. When the mysterious Mr. Smith (Scott G. Anderson) checks in with a young woman, they witness the sadistic psychopath guest stabbing and killing his mate. The footage is a success and they decide to make other snuff movies with Smith. When Caleb (Trevor Wright), who is traveling from Chicago with his fiancée Jessica (Agnes Bruckner) and his best friend Tanner (Arjay Smith), decides to rest in Meadow View, they have a nightmarish night and try to survive from the sick intention of the gang.

The underrated "Vacancy 2: The First Cut" is a decent prequel to the original "Vacancy" (which is also a reasonable movie, nothing more than that). There are some stupid scenes, like for example Jessica beating on the window instead of escaping; or the attitude of Tanner in the house of Otis and Doris; or the conclusion with the police finding no evidence of the murders; but the final result is not bad or mediocre like mentioned in some reviews. The screenplay and the story could be better but work on DVD. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Temos Vagas 2 - The First Cut" ("Vacancy 2: The First Cut")

Vacancy 2 is not as great as the first, but it does have some of the same suspense in the first half.

I found it pretty interesting and entertaining, especially as seen as a prequel. I did like how the order of the killings were not as obvious as other slasher films, but I do not like how it ripped off from The Strangers (a superior film) in the killers' masks. Saying that, the ending also sort of fell apart, and the reason is because there is just way too much chase. However, it still makes for a quick and mostly entertaining film that manages to be alright for a quick Saturday night, but do not expect it to be as great as other horrors, since the original was not all that either.

Vacancy the original was so much better, however this one was decent for a prequel. I felt like there were some moments that felt more silly than anything, which I don't think personally is good in a horror film. The acting was pretty well done also. Good if you just want to watch it or have extra time on your hands but you wouldn't be missing too much if you skipped out on this one.

First off the most annoying thing about this trash is the extremely poor steady cam work. Or should I say unsteady. Guy can't operate a camera to save his life. Pathetic. Shaking all over the place and quite frankly really hard to watch without feeling dizzy and ill. Hard Pass ! Save your time and watch anything but this crap. I know guys who never even went to film school who can at least keep a camera steady. Stabilization isn't this hard. God only knows how the director and editor were able to watch this and think it's good camera work. This completely put me off watching this film and I had to turn it off as it was making me feel ill. Guy needs to go back to film school or get off the caffeine.

A direct-to-DVD sequel to the surprisingly successful VACANCY, a supposed horror/thriller that I wasn't too fussed about if I'm truthful. I felt that VACANCY was a film I'd seen a hundred times before, and the same can be said for this low budget sequel which takes the form of a prequel set in another motel.

The story is very predictable and aimed at the torture porn market. A travelling group of three teenagers end up staying at a remote motel (is there any other type?) and fall foul of a group of weirdos who decide to make a snuff film. There are no shocks or surprises here, and the writing is merely perfunctory. The characters act dumb and stilted, and the worst thing is that there's no sense of empathy; you never care as to who lives or dies.

Agnus Bruckner (THE WOODS) is the typical pretty blonde heroine but her character is severely underwritten to the point that the villains are more interesting than the supposed protagonists. The direction is insipid and uninspired and despite the plentiful chase sequences there isn't an exciting moment in the whole movie. Can't say I'm too surprised...