The cell phone plot point

Did you ever notice how in horror/thriller/mystery movies they now have to come up with some silly excuse as to why the cell phones aren't working. I guess this wasn't an issue in films before cells became ubiquitous, but now, whenever the bad guy is about to strike, they have to explain that they are not getting a signal (so much for that nationwide service Verizon is always bragging about), or, more likely, their battery is dead. (A lot of these dufuses apparently never charge their phone before heading out.)

I saw two movies this weekend - Vacancy and The Strangers - and in both cases, yep, the cells wouldn't work.

The people in them are really stupid too. In The Strangers, some, er, strangers, are trying to break into a couple's secluded vacation cabin. The woman tries to call 9-1-1, and, of course, dead battery.

But she is in the house, she even brings out the charger and plugs it in. Now, I may be wrong, but I think once you plug in a cell phone, even if the battery is dead, you can start using it when it's hooked up to a current. Not this one.

Come to think of it, they always seem to make the woman the rather stupid partner in these films. In Vacancy - the better movie of the two - a couple is running away from, er, yet more strangers who are - what else - trying to kill them in a secluded motel room. As they are running, she drops their damn phone. But it's okay, it wasn't getting a signal anyway. Sigh.

Oh well, at least it was the yummy Kate Beckinsale so I forgave her.