Flick of The Day: The Vanishing / Spoorloos

Horror is a genre I tend to avoid, particularly the current "torture porn" craze epitomised by movies like Hostel and the Saw series. Gore and cheap theatrics do nothing for me but to each his or her own. That said, it is is human nature to enjoy the odd moment of fear once in awhile and scary movies tick this box. Today's film is a deeply disturbing psychological thriller from the Netherlands with a truly frightening ending, The Vanishing.

The Vanishing - Criterion Collection

A hit in Europe on its release in 1988, this thriller directed by George Sluizer garnered great reviews upon its American release, so much so that it was remade in 1993, in a vastly inferior version starring Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges. The original is much less polished and is all the more chilling for it with a great ending. A young Dutch couple Rex and Saskia, played by Gene Bervoets and the lovely Johanna ter Steege, are travelling through France on a long hot Summer in 1984 as the Tour De France winds it's way through the French countryside. Stopping at a busy service station, Saskia goes to get a drink in the shop and disappears, never to be seen again. Rex initially waits and then searches for Saskia, to no avail, she has disappeared without a trace. Years pass, and Rex is unable to let it go, whether for love or obsession he has to know what happened to Saskia. We are introduced to Raymond, a truly creepy and disturbing creation of the late Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, your average family man with two children who enjoys experimenting with chloroform and trying to trick women into the back of his car. After 3 years, Rex begins to get taunting letters in the post. The killer is intrigued by his obsession with what happened to Saskia and eventually chooses to make contact with an offer of information. This leads ultimately to a shocking and affecting conclusion that will leave you thinking long after the credit have rolled.

An examination of evil and its ability to lurk beneath the surface of even the most innocuous fronts. Director George Sluizer created a minor classic with this film. It examines one man's obsession with wanting to know what happened and the dangers of knowing too much. It is also deliberate in its examination of the psychological trauma of losing somebody close to you. Rex never really recovers from losing Saskia and it leads him to making poor judgements, all in an attempt to know. The film has at times an almost documentary feel to it as it switches focus with an extended flashback, seemingly answering all of the viewers questions before its chilling finale which throws everything into the wind. Dark, disturbing, but inevitable given what has come before.

Raymond is a stunningly evil creation, perhaps because his evil is so subtle and under the surface. This is not some overtly psychotic character with a blood lust, such as you might see in many of Hollywood's creations.

"My daughter was bursting with pride. But I thought that her admiration wasn't worth anything unless I could prove myself absolutely incapable of doing anything evil. And as black cannot exist without white, I logically conceived the most horrible deed that I could envision right at that moment. But I want you to know, for me killing is not the worst thing"

All in all, this is a truly frightening piece of work with some fine central performances and subtle direction from Sluizer. It is worth seeing if only for the ending deemed too shocking for American audiences and altered for the far less subtle and ultimately run of the mill remake. Well worth a look.