Grade: D+ | There’s nothing quite like starting off a horror film with a broken-down car on an empty country road in the middle of nowhere. David (Luke Wilson) and Amy Fox (Kate Beckinsale), an exhausted, squabbling, soon-to-be divorced couple, are the victims of this tried-and-true setup situation.

With zero chance of having their car fixed before morning, they have no choice but to check into the creepy, run-down Pinewood Motel for the night. But as they attempt to settle in, David and Amy soon find that those who check into the motel never check out, and instead become the unwilling stars of homemade snuff films.

With “Disturbia” still dominating the box office and the early success of “Vacancy,” it’s not hard to wonder if Hollywood’s horror and thriller genres are experiencing the beginnings of a neo-Hitchcockian movement, of sorts. These films don’t just harken back to classics like “Rear Window” and “Psycho”; they are re-imagining them for today’s audiences.

Unfortunately for “Vacancy,” its classic precursor is, by far, the better film.

While “Psycho’s” Norman Bates’ motivation for killing was tied into his psychosis, the Pinewood Motel’s night manager (Frank Whaley) seems to lack anything that creative ­- a simple mix of greed and pleasure seem to be his driving forces. This is supposed to be scary, but since the rest of the film is so lackluster, it’s really just disappointing.

As for David and Amy, they’re exasperatingly cliche and two-dimensional. They fit into a pre-conceived how-to-survive-a-horror-movie mold: They run, they scream and do everything the audience expects them to in order to elude their assailants.

Overall, this film is just – blah. There’s nothing new and exciting involved, nothing to keep anyone’s interest. If “Vacancy” accomplishes anything, it’s to reinforce the following: 1) Invest some time and money into educating yourself about your automobile and how to fix minor problems that are able to be taken care of without calling a mechanic, 2) Be cautious when checking into creepy, run-down motels in the middle-of-nowhere late at night – if you get a weird vibe, get out of there, and 3) Believe it or not, you can’t count on a good film by a promising cast.