“Vacancy,” the new thriller starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, is only 80 minutes long, so it gets to the point rather quickly. The point, I guess, is that the best way to defeat marital problems is to be stalked by masked maniacs at a remote motel in the middle of nowhere.

Take that, Dr. Phil.

A couple grieving over the loss of their son are driving towards Los Angeles and a divorce. Their car breaks down and a friendly mechanic doesn’t do too good of a job of fixing it and they break down again a mile down the road. The couple checks in to a motel run by a weirdo (played eerily well by Frank Whaley) and soon the creepiness starts. Though the motel is empty, there is banging on the doors and walls and the couple then discover video tapes of murders that took place in a room that looks exactly like the room they are in.

That’s when things kick into high gear. Wilson and Beckinsale do everything they can to escape the killers, all while being under surveillance in their room and seemingly trapped. There is a lot of running, crawling and hiding and director Nimrod Antal did a good job of keeping the suspense high. Movies like this are a dime a dozen, but “Vacancy” was fresh because the characters were more than one-dimensional cliches and their outcome wasn’t certain.

Antal was also creative in what violence he chose to show. He left a lot up to the imagination and it made some of the horror more effective. One scene towards the end made me feel very uncomfortable and yet, in hindsight, I didn’t see anything.

It was refreshing to see a “B” horror movie get some solid talent. Wilson plays an Everyman very well and you can easily get behind his emotionally wounded father. It takes longer to warm up to Beckinsale, and it is supposed to, but by the end of the film you are rooting for her to take charge and save the day. I was just glad to see her out of the leather “Underworld” outfit and actually acting for a change.

Seriously, I hate the “Underworld” movies.

“Vacancy” isn’t a horror classic - “Psycho” is still the king of dastardly deeds going down in the sticks - but it does have some interesting elements and it does distinguish itself from the pack of recent horror releases. Enough so that it may actually appeal to people who typically don’t like this type of movie.

**1/2

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