Tuesday, May 24, 2022
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
FLICKFEAST
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews Film Review

The Vault (2017)

Robb Sheppard by Robb Sheppard
December 8, 2021
in Film Review
The Vault (James Franco)
14
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Quentin Tarantino. Edgar Wright. Dan Bush. Spot the odd one out. Easy, right?

Okay, so at the moment it might feel like a stretch, but the latter one may not be quite so odd or out in a year or so. Within the first two minutes of Dan Bush’s The Vault, there’s a moment that evokes Tarantino and Wright which immediately positions the film head and shoulders above other modern horrors: an opening credit sequence. It may sound trivial, but as Tarantino once advised Wright, an opening credit sequence builds anticipation and brands the films as an event in itself. No pressure then.

Part heist movie, part horror, The Vault finds a slapdash stick-up crew getting caught with their trousers down when there’s less money in the vault but more than they bargained for in the basement. After the opening and credit sequences depict a mid-robbery 911 call and corpses piling up, we’re straight into the bank queue. During which, each character is skillfully created through the crew members’ fronts and cover stories, leaving them feeling thought through and well-rounded. The main characters are painted in shades of grey instead of black and white, allowing the viewer’s allegiances and sympathies free to flit back and forth, never more so than when it’s revealed their actions are not motivated by avarice, but by altruism.

The central casts’ performances also add texture to these characters, especially bank robbing sisters Vee and Leah. Just as bellicose as the early season version of her Orange is the New Black character, Taryn Manning’s Vee is quick to throw a punch and willing to use brass-knucks as added punctuation. Francesca Eastwood’s performance contributes to her Leading Actor CV and will hopefully see her take on some other worthy roles. As for James Franco? It’s a refreshing change to see him understated and with his trademark charm and GIF-worthy grin replaced with an impressive pornstache instead.

The Vault - Film Review

You might also like

Firestarter (2022) – Film Review

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – Film Review

Benediction (2021) — Film Review

So, half an hour in and the heist’s gone pear-shaped, tempers have been frayed and things start to get spooky. After a build more stressful than an IRL bank queue and with curiosity of the big bad suitably piqued, there was fear that it may shit the bed. And then it does.

Thankfully, it’s only a shart. When the action moves from the creepy underground vault and back into the bank, the viewer’s left like a Chilean miner, having squinted trying to make out what’s actually cracking off and who’s attacking whom. Yes, less is more and the imagination is scarier than the familiar, but when Vee’s radioing her doomed colleague asking “What’re you lookin’ at?”, the audience is asking the same thing. When the viewer finally does see what they’re looking at though, it’s shockingly gruesome: tapping into a Video Nasty vibe and Abel Ferrara’s Driller Killer in particular. Jump scares are largely swapped for the psychological and the unsettling, so much so that a comparison to Silent Hill seems apposite. The game. Not the film.

Sadly, then you blink and it’s all over; we’re whisked away to after the event to see who’s survived and what’s left of them. It’s frustrating to those who’ve invested so much. But again, less is more. A twist is sign-posted from the start (and the trailer tbh) and although it aims for a swerve worth dropping your Kobayashi mug for, it would have arguably been more effective to stick to the obvious.

But hey, Tarantino and Wright aren’t ones to stick to the obvious. Why play it safe?

 

Film Rating: ★★★★☆

DIRECTOR/WRITER: Dan Bush/Dan Bush & Conal Byrne
STARS: James Franco, Taryn Manning, Francesca Eastwood
RUNTIME: 1hr 31min
COUNTRY: USA

The Vault is in cinemas and on iTunes & digital HD from 8th September.

Tags: CrimeDan BushFrancesca EastwoodhorrorJames FrancoTaryn ManningThe Vaultthriller
Robb Sheppard

Robb Sheppard

'Books, records, films – these things matter. Call me shallow but it’s the f*****n’ truth.'

Related Posts

Film Review

Firestarter (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
May 24, 2022
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
May 23, 2022
Benediction (2021)
Film Review

Benediction (2021) — Film Review

by Jasmine Valentine
May 19, 2022
The Innocents (2021) – Film Review
Film Review

The Innocents (2021) – Film Review

by William Stottor
May 17, 2022
Father Stu (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Father Stu (2022) – Film Review

by Dallas King
May 12, 2022

Recommended

Black Cinema that woke up America

Black Cinema that woke up America

March 8, 2017

Hamlet (1996)

July 16, 2012

Don't miss it

Film Review

Firestarter (2022) – Film Review

May 24, 2022
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – Film Review

May 23, 2022
Benediction (2021)
Film Review

Benediction (2021) — Film Review

May 19, 2022
Top 100 Greatest Movies Films
Spotlight

100 Greatest Movies (and 50 Honorable Mentions)

May 24, 2022
The Innocents (2021) – Film Review
Film Review

The Innocents (2021) – Film Review

May 17, 2022
Father Stu (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Father Stu (2022) – Film Review

May 12, 2022
flickfeast

Whetting your appetite for cinema with the best film reviews and features since 2009

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

Posting....