Scream – Vacancy

By starrymag | June 14, 2016

By: Allison Schonter

 

The Storage Unit

 

Vacancy picks up right where it left off: Audrey (Bex Taylor-Klaus) in the storage unit with Jake’s (Tom Maden) body. The killer has her stuck between a rock and a hard place and he lets her know that when he calls her. She can’t call the police because she would risk being discovered as Piper’s accomplice and because she discovered Jake’s body. She is very much alone in this mess with nobody to confide in. With nothing else to do, she takes the note off of Jake’s body and runs.

 

When Noah (John Karna) comes by to get her in the morning, Audrey attempts to persuade him out of going to the storage locker. Noah is adamant though; he has been waiting for this all night and it could finally answer dozens of questions on his murder board. Audrey reluctantly trudges along and films the big reveal. Only the reveal isn’t that big and it’s definitely not what Audrey was expecting. The storage unit is relatively empty and it’s missing a key piece: Jake’s body. Noah deems them lucky when they he discovers a camera that has been recording. He believes that somebody got to the unit before them and cleared it out, but the footage on the camera will show them who it is and what they took.

 

The two go back to Noah’s place and he hooks the camera up to his laptop to download the footage. Audrey panics because she knows what Noah will find on it. He’ll see her in the storage unit with Jake’s body. She grabs a bookend, and in a moment where we’re not really sure whether she plans to attack Noah with it or the camera, thy are both rescued by the syncing process failing. Audrey’s secret is safe…for now. The killer so kindly points out that he covered for her.

 

Welcome Home, Dad

 

Emma’s (Willa Fitzgerald) dad has returned and not everyone is thrilled about it. Both Maggie (Tracy Middendorf) and Audrey warn Emma to be careful around him, though they both have different reasons. Maggie doesn’t want Emma to get hurt again and Audrey finds it strange that he just randomly showed up after the killings. But this doesn’t stop Emma from meeting for breakfast with her father, hoping that she’ll get some answers as to why he left in the first place. In the end, though, all that she gets is the knowledge that her mother had told him that Emma wasn’t ready to see him.

 

The tension between Maggie and Kevin (Tom Everett Scott) is thick enough to cut it with a knife. Maggie is anything, but happy with his return. She is trying to protect Emma and she thinks that his sudden arrival will only harm her. Kevin feels the opposite. He has been receiving emails from Riley Morran stating that she believes Emma needs him. They’ve both been through something terrible, they are both survivors and he can help. Little does he know that Riley Morran was killed by Piper months earlier, a fact that he finds out when he speaks with Maggie. The two go to the police and demand that the emails be investigated.

 

The Return of a Familiar Face

 

Brooke (Carlson Young) is still struggling to get ahold of Jake, who suddenly isn’t responding to any of her text messages or phone calls again. There is one man who is more than willing to speak with her, though. Brooke receives an unexpected call from her former rendezvous partner Mr. Branson (Bobby Campo). He greets her with a Shakespeare quote and then tells her that he knows that she and Jake broke up. Brooke wants nothing to do with him and hangs up, threatening to block this number just as she has blocked him on every social media platform.

 

Hoping for a fun time with friends at the movies, as well with a plan to set Zoe (Kiana Ledé) up with Noah when Brooke arrives at the movie theater. Her somewhat-nemesis Gustavo (Santiago Segura) is there, which she’ll later to come to see as a savior. Mr. Branson is also at the movie theater, but promises Brooke that it is just a coincidence. His promise isn’t so reassuring when he tells her that he’s seen her around town a lot (sounds kind of stalkerish to me). Brooke introduces Branson to her new “friend” Gustavo and when Mr. Branson questions the legitimacy of their relationship, Brooke and Gustavo kiss. Before he leaves, Mr. Branson tells Brooke that she’s changed as she didn’t even thank him for the flowers that he left on her car.

 

Crescent Palms

           

Crescent Palms. It’s one of those creepy motels that you just know nothing good will happen there and your suspicions would be correct. Friendly podcast commenter Eddie Krueger (Chase McCleery-Bouchie) meets his demise in room 213 when he goes to deliver liquor to a Mr. Duval. The room is empty with the floor and furniture covered in plastic. (Note to Eddie, that’s probably a pretty big, giant, blaring clue that something isn’t right and you should run). Our killer takes him by surprise and hits him over the head before stabbing him with a corkscrew.

 

Meanwhile, Emma goes to the coffee shop to pick up her work schedule. It turns out that her father left a message for her there. He wants her to meet him at Crescent Palms, where he’s staying. He’s thought about it and he can give her answers as to why he left, answers that Emma is desperate to have. So, Emma goes and when nobody is at the front desk, she looks up her father’s room number herself. Room 213. Just as it was when Eddie had arrived, there is nobody there, but a stack of newspaper clippings litters the top of the dresser.

 

Audrey is also on her way to Crescent Palms. She had received a call from the killer while she had been getting ready for work telling her that if she wanted answers, she’d have to go to the motel. On her drive, she gets another call from the killer telling her to hurry. The call is accompanied by a video of Emma in the room and the killer hiding in the bathroom. Emma is angry with Audrey and when Audrey tries to call, Emma ignores it. This prompts Audrey to call the police.

 

Emma is saved from a not so happy ending when she hears screaming outside. As she leaves the motel and begins walking back to her car, she sees her drunken father fighting with a man. She screams for him to stop, but he doesn’t until the man is knocked unconscious. Emma asks him why he asked her to come here if he was just going to get drunk. It turns out that he never left a message for her. In fact, Mr. Duval had checked out of his room and was preparing to leave.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Who in the world is the killer? Suspicion and doubt are being thrown on so many people right now. There’s Mr. Duval, Emma’s dad, who randomly showed up after the killings. There’s Mr. Branson, who just seems kind of creepy. Eli is someone who we really don’t know all that much about. Gustavo seems extremely interested in Brooke and the Lakewood Six. I’m even going to go out on a limb here and throw in Zoe who has admitted to listening to Noah’s podcast and having a crush on him (Love can lead people to do crazy things. Perhaps even murder in the hopes of gaining attention and recognition from Noah).

 

And let’s take a moment to talk about Audrey. The killer is taunting her. He is the only one of the Lakewood Six that he has contacted. He’s calling her and texting her. And now he has even thrown a murder weapon in her car, which means that she could be directly linked to Eddie’s murder. She could be framed for his murder.