New Horror Releases: The Vault (2017) Reviewed

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With barely any new movies hitting theaters this weekend, it was time to dig into some streaming content. For the last couple months we've been seeing this one getting heavy promotion, so we checked it out. Our thoughts are as follows. Remember to wear heavy armor when reading this review. You're going to need it. 

 Some of the best horror releases mix and mash different types of genres to come up with an amalgamated new spin on things we may have experienced before. The Vault is one of those movies. It attempts to mix the high tension bank heist thriller that we all know and love with old school ghostly haunting tropes. Armed by a boring delivery and a story that lets us figure out all the twists and turns before they even come, The Vault is a distracted mess that doesn't cash in on any of its promises. Unfortunately for viewers, this straight to video release fails to deliver on its premise while wasting the talents of James Franco and numerous other (what I would call) B-level actors. Director Dan Bush never succeeds at his pairing of Dog Day Afternoon and The Haunting. 
Do it. I deserve it. What's happening to my career?

Kicking off with a mangled bank robbery led by Taryn Manning and Clint's daughter Francesca Eastwood, this horror hybrid could have been a cool idea if the script and plot had been repaired prior to production. The writing is hampered by amateurish line readings as a distinct feeling of non-committal performances drag this thing through the mud. For Franco this was nothing but a paycheck. Even the bare bones talents of Eastwood and Manning are far beyond the freshman level scripting and absolute lack of a real semblance of originality here. If a better scriptwriter had been attached to flesh out key elements, this could have been way better. The idea is fresh. The product is not. 

 With almost no explanation whatsoever, our lead criminals begin to die one by one as they're whacked by mysterious ghosts that inhabit the bank. Using terrible looking visual effects that don't do anything for the viewer, it's a blessing that this project is so short. For a movie that qualifies as horror, there is nothing scary about The Vault other than the amount of money they threw at marketing this. At just ninety minutes, the only thing of positive note is the musical score. 

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Score

 -CG