The Vault (2000) (V)

User Rating:

2.9/10   

Director:

James Black

Writers:

Douglas Snauffer (writer)
Carl Washington (writer)

Release Date:

13 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Don't release what you can't put back.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Supernatural Power | Haunting | Student | Ghost

Cast

Leopoldo Mandeville		(as Leopoldo Papi)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Java Benson		(as Antoine Java Benson)
James Black	...	Bradbury
Michael Cory Davis	...	Kyle
Ted Lyde	...	Mr. B.
Michael G. Maurer	...	Slave Master
Shani Pride	...	Desaray
Austin Priester	...	Willy
Kyle Walker	...	Zachary, 'Zipper'
Parris Washington

Directed by
James Black

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Douglas Snauffer		writer
Carl Washington		writer

Produced by
Ariauna Albright	....	associate producer
Charles Band	....	executive producer
J.R. Bookwalter	....	producer
Mel Johnson Jr.	....	executive producer
Michael G. Maurer	....	associate producer
Chuck Williams	....	producer

Original Music by
Les Pierce

Cinematography by
Mike King

Production Design by
Tammi Sutton

Costume Design by
Jeffrey Lindsay Relf

Makeup Department
David Greathouse	....	special makeup effects artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael G. Maurer	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Marck Johnson	....	assistant art director
Jake Madfis	....	art production assistant

Sound Department
Danny Draven	....	additional special sound effects editor
Danny Draven	....	sound effects editor
Chris M. Jacobson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chris M. Jacobson	....	supervising sound editor

Visual Effects by
Danny Draven	....	visual effects: opening title sequence
David Lange	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Darryl Rue	....	gaffer
Kelley Sweet	....	still photographer
Brad Wallace	....	first assistant camera

Production Companies

• Tempe Entertainment

Distributors

• Full Moon Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Fat Cat Post  post-production

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence/gore and language.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Tempe Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Edited into Making of 'The Vault' (2000) (V)

About as scary as an After-School special adaptation of an RL Stine book.

This is the danger of picking up something you've never heard of before at the video store , simply because the cover looks cool . ..

It's hard to know what demographic this movie was made for. It's like some ghetto-style Blair Witch Project Lite, with an African-American cast set in an abandoned school. It is supposedly about a history teacher and a group of students who go into the school to retrieve any historical memorabilia before it gets torn down, but end up finding something horrifying in the basement. Sounded like a good premise on the cover description, except that the story is woefully bad and completely unfrightening. It is far too poorly written and executed to satisfy any serious horror fan. It certainly has the production values of an After-school special, and could have been a good scary movie for kids, except that it has far too much profanity and gore.

I blame the writer/filmmaker James Black. His cast could be accused of bad acting, but the truth is these kids probably could have turned in some decent performances if they'd had a workable script and some good direction. Instead, they run around spouting cliche'd lines, trying to act too hip, and arguing with each other about everything. Likewise, the school where they shot this film could have been a great location for a scary film - except that they filmed everything there in the DAYTIME!! Hey, first rule of horror films, James - all the best ones take place at night. It looks like they probably shot the whole thing in one day, as a matter of fact. And the back-story of why the basement is haunted is completely ludicrous, historically inaccurate, and even a bit propagandist.

So, in short. Stay away from James Black films. Stay away from Full-Moon films. And especially, stay away from The Vault.