The Helpers

Heading off on a road-trip, a group of friends get stranded near a roadside motel and decide to stay the night only to awake in the morning tied up and being forced to undergo grueling, brutal tortures for a past revenge and must find a way to battle their captors to escape alive.

For the most part, this one wasn't all that great. What really tends to work well here for this one is the fact that there's quite a nicely believable and enjoyable first half which really dispels the notion of the upcoming horror quite nicely as there's a lot of fun to be had here. The shots of them sitting around partying and hanging out at the motel before it all goes down, and it makes for some rather cool times with their ability to keep this section of the film quite interesting. When it leads into the series of tortures and other tactics committed against the group, that does make for a somewhat more enjoyable time here with some rather fun and exciting tortures throughout here which are much more prominently based on actual tortures being imposed on them which makes for a rather decent time here. With them really running through some solid tortures in the various rooms as in them being tied up to trucks or strapped into chairs above bathtubs filled with water holding a live wire above it, the ideas behind them are kinda cruel and makes for some chilling moments as there's a nice sense of twisted brutality to their madness which is rather fun to watch and sets up the finale nicely as there's plenty of fun chasing and brawling occurring throughout that makes for quite a fun and really enjoyable time throughout here. These, though, are all that really work for this one since way too much of it isn't all that appealing and features a multitude of big flaws. The main issue to be found here is the fact that there's just absolutely nothing about the villains that makes them someone to be feared or scared of, being the usual assortment of wackos that are simply in the position of power through drugging everyone and it really seems like a situation where it would be quite easy to get the upper hand on them if an actual, honest attempt at putting them away were tried, and as they go for the tormenting and torture route this doesn't get any better. As a main genre this is simply old and tiresome which really just makes for a rather overdone and quite bland outing here as there's just not a whole lot of interest here generated from that plot line. Then to top if off there's the utter gall of the film to try to tie in their actions with the backstory delivered by them which is so utterly obnoxious, condescending and truly pathetic that it never once comes across as anything but a total joke. Based on such a lame reasoning in the first place at wanting to find revenge on the guilty party only for that to be the tie into the simply most ridiculous manner of carrying it out which has no need to ever be attempted here truly turns this whole part of the film into quite the pain to get through trying to rationalize the true nature of what's going on which is quite pathetic. This here makes this one such an utterly torturous watch that it really overcomes many of it's positives otherwise.

Rated R: Extreme Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity.

Poor acting and a horrible script. They tried to fill the huge holes in the story with an explanation that was unintentionally hilarious. On the bright side a few good scares. But better watch Vacancy. The original is in this case a lot better than this cheap ripp off.

NO VACANCY AKA THE HELPERS is a horror film in which every scene makes you feel like you have seen something like this before. Perhaps the most original aspect of it is that it attempts (in its earlier parts, at least) to combine elements of found footage with normal story-telling, but curiously, the camera angles under "normal mode" are chosen such that it feels even more like found-footage, and so when it switches modes, it becomes a little confusing.

What really does this movie in, however, is not the lack of originality or botched handling of different modes of story-telling, but the barrage of implausibilities from start to end.

The seven(!) friends do not get even a little suspicious that they are being offered free food, drinks and board? Really? And then, when the killings start, they don't avail themselves of the many objects lying around to defend themselves? The plot twist was better than having no twist at all, but it was still underwhelming, in part, again, because it seemed so implausible. And what was up with the epilogue? Is this now about the undead?

Several scenes were filmed in a way that made it obvious how the film tried to manipulate the audience into a sense of dread. Of course, many movies, and especially horror films, try to manipulate the audience into experiencing certain emotions. The art lies in doing it in a way that the audience does not notice it. In that regard, the film failed, too.

Finally, there is an unevenness in the movie which I think makes it difficult fo the film to find its audience: the earlier killings have a strong torture porn feel, whereas the later ones are more reminiscent of standard action-thriller movies.

All in all, quite a forgettable film.

OK first off, never say that to a stranger. If you decide to watch this movie you will understand. This movie seems to be a collection of Vacancy, The Hitcher, and Saw. Not very creative and someone should help the cast to acting lessons. Especially the blonds. I am writing this to be helpful to the next potential victim of this movie. I understand that is didn't have that large of a budget as movies go nowadays and it shows. When watching this, you can't help to notice the inconsistency and implausibility of the plot. this movie isn't even worth writing ten lines worth of review for. Help me get away from this bad movie!

I say this because, while the movie is indeed awful, the few pros going for it are that it sufficed my need for a quick, low budget Horror/Thriller in that moment, and as cliché as the ending was, I wanted to see how the movie ended anyway. That's the only good qualities I can list about the movie folks.

Now for the many unforgiveable cons: The acting is lower than second rate from everyone, ranging from weird to just plain out atrociously bad deliverance of lines and awkward appearances/mannerisms, mostly by the antagonists. Though, no one stands apart from the crowd as the best or worst actor/actress; they are all equally horrible and sorely lacking in any likeability or credibility, and easily forgettable. While this is usually okay if the acting is cheesy, corny or intentionally hammed up, or the characters are such, there were no instances I chuckled with this one, but more so gave my signature WTF face over half the movie for various reasons...

On to the setting; There are very few masterpiece scary films set in the desert, which is disappointing because it is a perfect setting. While the movie takes place at a motel in a very barren area, it feels anything but hopeless/lost/deserted. Most of the scenes are in a car and the half motel-half bar, so there is actually a lot of social activity going on, many bland rooms, including too many characters changing in and out in no rhythm whatsoever. I don't remember a single one of their name's, the setting was wasted.

Next is the ultra basic predictable plot. It has been done. to. death. People check into a hotel/motel and end up not checking out... Psycho? Vacancy? It Happened at Nightmare Inn? 1408?! Hostel?!! Amazingly, all of those movies are better by simple comparison, especially Psycho which is a classic, and Vacancy and 1408 which I personally enjoyed a lot. I would suggest you watch any of those I just listed instead of this.

They are uninspiring, heartless and grotesque for the sole reason of being grotesque. There is of course lots of senseless screaming, over-use of blood meant to be taken seriously, and a "twist" so out of place and lame you barely feel anything at all when it is revealed, or notice the characters are even discussing a twist at first...

I'd recommend watching this movie if you are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to your Horror/Thriller selection.