The Vault (2017)

Genres

Horror, Thriller

Director

Dan Bush

Country

USA

Cast

Francesca Eastwood, Taryn Manning, Scott Haze, Q'orianka Kilcher, Clifton Collins Jr., James Franco, Keith Loneker, Jeff Gum, Jill Jane Clements, Michael Milford, Aleksander Bayshelboym, Debbie Sherman, Lee Broda, Anthony DiRocco, Dmitry Paniotto

Storyline

In order to save their brother Micheal (Scott Haze), two estranged sisters, Leah (Francesca Eastwood) and Vee (Taryn Manning), are forced to rob a bank. But it turns out to be no ordinary bank.

Opinion

I watched The Vault for James Franco only knowing absolutely nothing about it. So you can get how surprised I was when 40 minutes into what I thought was just a mediocre bank heist film, I realised the movie was supposed to be a horror. I think that says a lot about this film, but I'm going to waste further time to make that a little bit more clear. 

Now that I know what the movie was supposed to be, I can say the idea of having the victims of a previous bank heist haunting the building wasn't terrible. The execution, however, is. The (40 minute) setup is just too long, then the story is rushed, shallow and not very explained. It gets confusing and the slow pacing sure doesn't help to keep you interested in what's going on.

Pretty much the same can be said about the characters. They haven't a lot of development, and most of the decisions they make no sense whatsoever. Not to mention that most of the acting is cringing. The only thing Francesca Eastwood has inherited from her father is the last name. She can't simply act. Also, what is going on with Taryn Manning? I thought she was great in Orange Is the New Black, but now I'm starting to think the meth-head is her starter pack. At least the terrible acting from all the cast made James Franco's almost expressionless performance stand out. Seriously though, I don't know what was more distracting, Eastwood's dark circles, Manning acting like a meth-head the whole time or Franco's horrible moustache. 

In spite of that, The Vault still managed to surprise me in a positive way, and I'm not talking about the predictable plot twist I saw coming from miles away. I'm talking about the fact that the director was able to build some solid suspense. And there were a few scares as well.