Damn That $20.00 Dollar Sparkler!

The appeal of movies is that they provide an escape. Even if it is just for two hours, you can be transported to another place and that can be a great thing.

SCI-FI/Fantasy movies such as Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are wonderful for this. I think that the reason that SCI-FI/Fantasy movies are so special to me is because somewhere underneath it all is the little girl who used to believe in magic and therefore that anything was possible. I don't believe in much in anymore but I remember the little girl who did. This genre is my tribute to her and my apology for abandoning her.
Comedies are great because there are few greater feelings in the world than laughing. To smile in amusement is one thing, to be moved into an all out gut-busting fit of laughter is a rare gift. (Unless you work with someone like Dino or Newman of course.) Any movie that can help you achieve this deserves to be in your DVD collection.
Dramas are not to be overlooked either. Even if you cannot relate to their storyline, a good drama will still convey enough emotion that you feel as if you can. Even though I am total sap who cries at the end of most movies, there is something to be said about that. I hate crying, especially in front of people, and yet am I almost always glad that I did when it is over. If I ever sit through a movie in which one of the main characters dies and I don't shed at least one tear, than I will know that the transformation is complete and my heart has officially turned to stone.

Action movies, while not necessarily one of my favorite genres unless coupled with one of the above categories, can be a great too. Action movies have the ability to inspire us to be tough, even though most of us pray that we are never in a situation where it is required of us.

But scary movies...well they have to be the ultimate movie genre. Say what you will about them but scary movies have a way of staying with you long after the credits roll. Sure dramas will make you cry, but the tears are usually gone by the time you get to your car. Comedies can improve your mood until you get to your car and see that the jerk next to left a huge dent in your door. SCI-FI/Fanatasy movies can you want to believe until you log onto your homepage and see the dreadful news reports and reality can no longer be ignored. But a good scary movie can overcome all of these things and stay with you for days. (Or maybe that is just me but I doubt it, else why would they keep making them?) My point...I am once again too scared to sleep and therefore avoiding my bed...thanks to the movie Vacancy.

Honestly, the movie wasn't that scary....except that it kind of was. What I mean is that I was scared while watching it by myself in the dark, but more importantly I can forsee ample opportunities to be scared by it in the future. For example, I will be checking into a hotel in three days and I am certain that I will think of this movie as soon as I cross the threshold into the room. Not that the Edgewater Hotel is anything like the one I just saw in the movie but still. More importantly, I am months away from embarking on a cross-country road trip where the only male company I will have with me will be the men singing on my iPod. So in the event that I am attacked by crazies like in the movie...I am totally screwed.

What got to me...in addition to the whole, "I'll be spending a lot of nights in hotels over the next few months" part was the fact that it was a realistic villian. Sure...Pennywise and Freddy are scary...but you put in a human villian and that takes it to a whole new level of fear. The fact that anyone could be that cruel and crazy to another human being is terrifying to me. As I watched Ethan Embry's character at the beginning of Vacancy, I knew that he was one of the bad guys and therefore setting them up. Yet I also knew that if I was in that very same situation...I would have bought his line of bullshit too and therefore been totally screwed.

I can see myself responding in the exact same ways as the main characters. I would have been too afraid to stay in the broken down car for a few hours (fearing stupid things like werewolves or men with a hook instead of a hand) and therefore would have walked back to the creepy motel. How is that I can be so untrusting of people whom I interact with everyday and yet be so willing to trust to a total stranger just because he works the front desk of a rundown motel?

I have to give the characters credit because at least they were smart as they tried to stay alive. Of course, if I had Hollywood writers telling me what to do, I think I would survive too...but that is not my point. They didn't give up, and they didn't go crazy even though they knew that the odds of surviving the night were slim. So because of this...I was actually pulling for both of them to somehow overcome their would-be killers.

The ending was decent...though somewhat less exciting than I would have liked it would be. The movie even made me a laugh a few times...though it might have been another case of me laughing at uncomfortable moments because I am unsure what else to do. The average rating was 2 stars, which is a little low...but not by much. Maybe 2 and 1/2 stars because I am still awake and every noise is making me jump. I know it is silly...but think about it. I have always felt safe once I checked into my hotel room and locked the dorr...and now I will be wondering if there are cameras or secret ways in, etc. The fact that this movie will haunt me every time I go to hotel in the future is what gives it that extra half a star.

So I get alot of shit from people for watching scary movies, because it is almost a given that I will be scared for at least three days afterwards. It is the same thing every time. Sleeping with a light on...leaping onto the bed (Just in case someone or something is under the bed, though why this makes me feel better is a mystery as there is no logic behind this strategy.)...the not sleeping...etc. Why put myself through this to watch some dumb movie? Simply because of all the emotions I have experienced, being scared is the easiest to endure. I'd rather not sleep because I am scared of the monster under the bed than because I am nursing a broken heart. So I will take movies like The Ring, IT, 30 Days of Night (which is coming out on DVD soon...as I found out when I saw the advertisement for this movie and got scared all over again!) and Vacancy as opposed to Sophie's Choice or Old Yeller any day of the week.