The Vanishing (1991)

I love this movie so much

Sick Product of a Sick System

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Well done. It is a thriller and a horror film in many ways but it mostly affected me as a meditation on obsession and our fear of/attraction to the unknown. I had seen the remake of this film years ago. The original is much better I think.

I came across this after reading River Phoenix's interview talking about this movie which persuaded him to accept the role, Boy, in Dark Blood which is also directed by George Sluizer and I'm so happy that I got the chance to watch this wonderfully beautiful movie.The tension slowly builds up with Saskia telling Rex his dream of being stuck in an egg, then them being stuck in a dark tunnel, Rex dreaming the same thing and the antagonist being pulled over by the police for not wearing his seat belt gets away by pointing that he's claustrophobic; I don't know why I didn't see the ending coming. As a claustrophobic myself, I found this movie very very disturbing, and by disturbing I mean.. Good.It's not a horror movie to make you jump outta your seat from time to time, but it'll haunt you for a long time.

OK, i first watched this film back in the early 90's. I'd heard some good things about it but not an awful lot if truth be known and so i went into it blind essentially, knowing only the basic concept. What i then witnessed was one of the most traumatic viewing experiences of my life. It centres on a touring Dutch couple in France who stop at a Motorway Services to fill up fuel for their car and themselves. They become separated as she heads off to buy some drinks and after some time fails to return, causing her Boyfriend to begin a frantic hunt for her. Our Antagonist has a fantasy of abducting a woman, we see him rehearsing his routine using Chloroform and after a failed attempt, then decides to fake an injury, utilising a sling on his arm. You can guess what now happened to our Dutch Tourist. From here the film then concentrates on the Boyfriend attempting to track down his now long lost Girlfriend. News coverage brings our Antagonist back to the fore as he tracks down the Boyfriend, who has now found himself another Girl but is obviously still traumatised by the loss. He is promised he will find out what became of her if he goes on a trip with the Antagonist and this could very well turn out to be the worst decision of his life. The tension, this film builds is incredible, the acting is immense, direction, camera work...everything about this film is fantastic. The mystery surrounding what has happened to the Girlfriend builds throughout. There's one scene which when the final reveal is exposed suddenly hits you between the eyes, yet at the time ( for me on the first viewing) seemed almost irrelevant. It was one the very few films i've seen which literally had me on the edge of my seat and by the end, i was breathless and panicked. An incredible piece of film making.As a side note. Please, avoid the US remake with Kiefer Sutherland, Geoff Bridges and Sandra Bullock. It has none of the tension, suspense or mystery of the original and to be honest, it's almost unbelievable it was made by the same guy George Sluizer.

Rex and Saskia are driving on a holiday. They have a fight and make up. At a gas station, Saskia disappears. Rex relentlessly searches for her. Raymond is outwardly a normal family man. In secret, he's been methodically preparing to satisfy his evil desires. He had kidnapped Saskia. Three years later, Rex is still looking for Saskia and has new girlfriend Lieneke. Evenutally Lieneke leaves him. He gets an offer from Raymond to reveal the truth of what happened.This is a cold-hearted character. The situation is intensely harrowing. It's not really a mystery because the killer is revealed quite early on. What it does is it shakes the viewer to the core. Raymond is unrelenting. We see this through Rex's eyes and it's a runaway train. The tragedy unrolls and the audience is helpless in its face.