![]() One of the key elements from the film involves the job taking place during the 2010 World Cup in Spain. Instead it switches over from heist to horror half way through, not really doing either justice."The Vault" ends with a peek of Walter and his comrades going to the Bank of London for their next heist. The wince worthy western / horror ‘Bone Tomahawk’ is a prime example. But especially for a genre mash up you need to either blend the two perfectly (see ‘Shaun of the Dead’) or basically stick to one but flavour it with elements of the other. For any effective horror you need to be afraid for the characters, which The Vault doesn’t do enough. It’s only the family trio of Vee, Leah and Michael that provide any anchorage for the audience to root for. Considering it was his character’s idea to send the intruders into the basement, there was more that could have been made of that.Īnd one stock criminal straight up disappears / dies and not a single other gang member even notices his absence. Indeed, Franco looks a little like he’s walking through the motions when it became clear his character wasn’t going to have any really interesting scenes. Franco’s presence in the movie is also underused bar a few key scenes, which is a shame. And I found myself rolling my eyes at the final scene, as I am sure most will. The Vault’s plot lines just sort of collapse rather than end. ![]() ![]() But he is rarely seen and ‘just there’ when he does turn up. A mysterious man in a white mask is supposed to be our main antagonist force. But there is no rhyme or reason to them once the jump factor is out there. The spooks are good, building tension throughout. But yet when he witnesses a fellow robber shove an active drill into their own head there is barely a reaction. Pegged as the nice guy, Haze’s acting varies from wide-eyed bland to genuinely hurt. Michael spends a telling scene early on talking to a hostage where it becomes clear that he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. However, come last 30 minutes it has become clear that The Vault peaks too soon. And some seem to turn to self harm unable to control their own hands. More and more apparitions scare the criminal gang. The second Act of the movie nicely ramps up the tension. And the security footage of the safe cracker having a freakout at apparently nothing doesn’t tally with the looming figures that he can see. The hostages with bags on their heads seem to change in number. A phone call goes out to the police that couldn’t have been made by anyone in the bank. Once the basement level is opened up all sorts of ghostly happenings begin. And when Vee slips on the knuckle duster to pound a hapless customer early on it’s clear that these two are going to clash, even without the impending paranormal. But she struggles to maintain order when things go initially wrong. Leah (Francesca Eastwood, Awake) is cool cucumber personified. The executed plan takes up enough of the opening to also give an opportunity to establish the criminal characters. Except the staff never go down there due to……rumours. Then, concerned deputy manager Ed ( James Franco), says that far more cash is stored in the old disused safe in the basement. The bickering turns violent and it looks like the robbery is going to end in a bloodbath. This causes a diversion whilst the rest of the crew come in disguised as a fire crew.īut once the robbery is underway there is much less cash available than thought or needed. ![]() The sisters pose as an angry customer and a job applicant respectively. So live-wire sister Vee (Taryn Manning) and cold calculating sister Leah, (together with some hired muscle) execute a well thought out plan to rob a bank. Good hearted brother, Michael (Scott Haze), owes money to bad people. Because what pulls the shutters down on this robbery, by a bunch of desperate infighting criminals, is this: a haunted vault. Employee at the wrong place at the wrong time? Retired cop customer who fights back? Double crossing? You know the score. Bank-robberies-gone-wrong movies usually take the turn of infighting, police intervention, or unplanned variables.
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