Based on Time Krabbe's The Golden Egg, The Vanishing is a deeply disturbing psychological thriller about a young man's search for his girlfriend after she disappears at a rest stop during a short trip. Over the course of three years, the man obsessively searches for her, using his spare time to put up posters and leave handbills, hoping that someone will give him a clue to the mystery surrounding her disappearance. The kidnapper, having watched the man for some time, is intrigued by his
increasing obsession and finally contacts him. He then gives the man the opportunity to learn firsthand of his girlfriend's fate. The film, frightening and moving with a chilling conclusion, is a small masterpiece as director George Sluizer confronts and examines the true nature of evil and obsession. Sluizer remade The Vanishing in an American version four years after the release of the original Dutch film, inexplicably changing the shocking ending which gave the original film such power. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
Mr. Sluizer, whose direction has the spooky precision of nonfiction crime writing and whose matter-of-factness makes the characters seem quite real, builds a disturbing horror story from seemingly modest beginnings.
Director George Sluizer unfolds his story with non-hysterical -- but nonetheless unnerving -- precision. Vanishing is refreshingly free of manipulative scenes involving running bath water, jagged-edge cutlery and bunnies in the saucepan.
The movie advances in a tantalizing fashion, supplying information obliquely, suggesting as much as it tells, and everything leads up to a climax that is as horrifying as it is probably inevitable.
Captivating and depressing saga about a man who loses his girlfriend to a sociopathic serial killer. This is a very good film that will stick with you in a very bad way.
January 11, 2009
Randy Tippy
Super Reviewer
A brave, original thriller concerning an obsessed man (Gene Bervoets) desperate to discover how his girlfriend (Johanna ter Steege) disappeared three years ago when the two stopped at a local gas station. This is a film that spends ample time developing its characters and establishing a dark, gloomy atmosphere in which
to detail its story. It gets mostly everything right, including defying the stereotypical psychopathic character. Instead of sticking to the "loner, physically threatening" type that has been used countless times, director George Sluizer decides to create a new breed of villain, opting to show him as a family man who has no need to be doing what he's doing. The ending definitely has the ability to piss a lot of people off, but I found it to be a breath of fresh air that once again didn't decide to go the cliche route and instead elected to turn even more haunting and dark than I originally perceived.
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