The Vanishing
Director: George Sluizer
Year Released: 1988
Rating: 2.5
A young man and woman go on vacation one weekend only to stop at a gas station and have the girl vanish (shortly after two pointed scenes: one has her giving a speech about what would happen if she would ever, say, disappear and the second has her 'almost' disappear overnight when their car runs out of gas), stranding the panicked boyfriend. Three years pass, and the man is downright obsessed with discovering the 'truth,' shouting in the streets, following bogus leads and going on TV to try to find her - the man who "took" her, meanwhile, waits in silence. Plodding and gimmicky "thriller" that, despite being downbeat and nihilistic (these traits can be good), never exactly connected with me - I felt indifferent to the first and second acts, waiting impatiently for the third, which is interesting though not as intellectually 'fulfilling' as it thinks. Reminiscent of Clouzet's Diabolique, but I enjoyed that picture a little more.
