Vacancy (2007)

The Bates Motel was an oasis of bliss compared to the Pinewood, where the TV in a squabbling couple's scuzzy ''suite'' plays snuff films that appear to have been shot in that very room. But tension and suspense are Vacancy's first victims, and the viewer, like the unsuspecting couple, is held hostage while gruesome (yet oddly familiar) horror footage unfolds on screen. EXTRAS Extended rampage scenes, which revel in torture and throat slashings, might appeal to sadists. But they aren't frightening, and, ultimately, they undermine any pretense of art. D