Rating: 
Summary: An example of a perfect horror film
Review: Most movies that claim to be horror films nowadays are not that way at all. They are bloody slashfests, where the only real suspense is trying to figure out how many different ways people will die and how much blood will be spent. Most of them are totally unrealistic, so people can simply remove themselves from the possibility of the film actually happening. They can look at the film as pure fantasy. Movies like Friday the Thirteenth or Nightmare on Elm Street feature killers who can't possibly exist.Then, we have movies like The Vanishing. I am not talking about the inferior remade American version from 1993. I mean the original Dutch/French version from 1988. This is the best horror film I have ever seen, even though there is not one drop of blood or one death on screen. The story is pretty simple. Rex (Gene Boerverts) and Saskia (Johanna Ter Steege) are lovers taking a bicycle vacation through France. They have a small catastrophe very early in the film (run out of gas) and Rex chooses to leave her behind in a tunnel to get help. They are both rather upset when he leaves and when he returns, she is not in the car. He puts the gas back into the car and drives through the tunnel, where he sees her at the end. They make up eventually and decide to stop at a gas station for a restroom stop and just to take a break. After coming back from the restroom, Saskia offers to go back to get them something to drink. Right before she goes in, she makes him swear that he will never abandon her again. He swears to it, she goes into the convenience store, and seemingly vanishes into thin air. He never sees her again. At this point, the viewer probably thinks it will be a whodunit, where we try to piece together clues and figure out who the culprit is who would kidnap the girl. But no, we are introduced to the kidnapper immediately. Even more surprising is that he becomes the main focus of the movie for the next 20 minutes, while we learn about his background and his lifestyle. He has a family and is completely normal from the outside. From here, three years pass and Rex is desperately trying to figure out what happened to Saskia. He has a new girlfriend who is sympathetic to the situation, but he can't get Saskia out of his head. He spends all his free time obsessing about her, and where she could be. It makes no sense to him. All the while, the kidnapper sends him letters telling him to meet him at certain places to find out about her. He goes each time, but never actually meets the kidnapper, because the kidnapper stays out of range, he only wants to see how badly Rex wants the answer. Finally, out of desperation, Rex goes on TV and pleads with the kidnapper to reveal himself. He tells him he does not want to hurt him, he just wants to know what happened to Saskia. The kidnapper decides to take him up on it. He goes to Rex's house. What happens from here on is for you to learn yourself. I will say that the reasons for the kidnapping are made clear and the true horror of the movie becomes evident in the last part. The kidnapper is a real person, he could be your next door neighbor. The man has two daughters and teaches chemistry at a local university. Yet in his mind he is able to plan out in intricate detail and execute this crime. Eventually he offers Rex a choice to find out what happened to Saskia. To find out, Rex has to put himself in a vulnerable position. He makes the choice and... He brings the movie to what has to be one of the most blood chilling endings in film history. It is completely logical and goes right along with what has gone before, but the audacity and straightforward nature of it will shock you. I promise, you won't soon forget this ending. It is criminal that the American film chose to change this ending to make it happier. As a result of this, the fates of the characters are completely different. The mystery to me is that the same director did both films. Why would he make such a great first effort and then let it be butchered so badly in this shoddy second telling? No matter. The first film is a horror classic, belonging right up there with the greats. If you have never seen this movie, rent it or find someone with a copy. The DVD is pretty good, but unlike lots of Criterion copies with a boatload of extra features, this is rather stripped down. There is a trailor in French which is okay and an essay in the inside cover of the case, but that's pretty much it. The sound is clear and the subtitles are much better than when the film first hit video in the late eighties. Without a doubt, this is one you can't miss!
Rating: 
Summary: Depravity is not another word for "genius"
Review: I watched this movie after hearing that the ending was one of the most chilling and provocative ever in the history of cinema. Well, all I have to say is that this was the worst piece of horse manure I have ever seen. I fell asleep halfway through and should have stayed that way. I cannot believe that someone stooped low enough to not only write this ending, but the way it was filmed was one of the most depraved, sick, unnecessary wastes of celluloid of all time. There were a million better ways to have gotten the gist of what this psychopath did to that woman. It was not necessary to show what they showed. Oh I know, a lot of you out there are saying....this idiot just didn't get it, they just don't appreciate genius. Believe me. I've seen genius and this is not even close. It's a cop out. It caters to the lowest common denominator and shows a complete lack of imagination. It was so bad, that all I can say is that this is one messed up ending. It won't keep me up at night. It didn't creep me out. It didn't scare me...It just made me sad that this kind of crap is what some consider to be brilliant cinema. It's not chilling, it's not provocative, it's not even interesting. It's just plain f'd up.
Rating:
Summary: Not as Scary as I was hoping, but still terrifying!
Review: This is definately a top 50 horror film. haven't seen the 1993 remake of The Vanishing, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, and Sandra Bullock. After watching the genuinely chilling Dutch original made only five years prior, I don't want to. I have a good idea of how the remake was Hollywoodized and dumbed down for American audiences who, movie studios insist, like their movies neatly packaged into familiar formulas. Well, the original is anything but formulaic, though I've been told the remake screws up and changes everything that made The Vanishing such a memorable, effective thriller in the first place. And to think that the same director, George Sluizer, is at the helm of both the Dutch original and the Hollywood remake. This is terrifying, but definately not for those "Scream" fans. This is for thinking people only! Watch it alone in the dark.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie, Overrated ending.
Review: If you like character studies then this is your type of movie. It provided a lot of interesting mood swings, and even the red herrings tossed our way are interesting. The acting is great as is typical of European cinema.
But...I was so hyped up for the "masterful" ending and was sorely disappointed. I wouldn't call it "Hitchcockian" as much as I would "Rod Serlingian". It's a gruesome ending, but nothing you wouldn't see in a C-grade horror flick.
Rating: 
Summary: Vanishing
Review: People rave about this French movie. I saw the American version first starring Sandra Bullock, Keiffer Sutherland & Jeff Bridges. The US version has been slammed by everyone, although it's not as bad as you think. This French version is good too but not overly better than the American. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the suspense is more effectively tackled in the American version. I'm not sure if it is because I saw it first, I just found the French abductor not very scary, whereas Jeff Bridges portrayed this strange character very well. The subtitles on the French version reduce any tension to the film because you have to concentrate on the words, then the vision and the mood.
I'm not sure why the American version has been criticised so unfairly because it is quite a decent film and holds up well.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and supurb horror film
Review: Intelligently written and originally titled Spoorloos, (don't ask me where they came up with that name) and had an inferior american re-make. I never saw the american version, but I don't plan too. This is a thinking man's movie. This is not for Scream fans. It is a complex film. Not as complex as Jacob's Ladder, but complex nontheless. It's about a young Dutchman who discovers that his girlfriend has gone missing during their return to Holland from a bicycling trip in France, he begins a three-year search that forms the basis of this unsettling psychological thriller/horror film. Made in the 80s, a time that you recall the screens were being conquered by blood and guts, and it's surprisingly not bloody. In this movie, it is all in the mind. This is a film that even the great Alfred Hitchcock would certainly have admired! But this movie packs one heck of a conclusion, which I will not disclose here. I think giving away BIG things about the movie is EVIL! This is an obscure little gem, but I would deffinately recommend this movie to anyone with good taste. WATCH IT ALONE IN THE DARK!! Hope you enjoy getting scared by this horror masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly Above Average
Review: First, by no means should you view the trailer before watching the main feature. Second, 'The Vanishing' is a slightly above average thriller that fails to deliver at the end. While driving on vacation, a couple pulls into a rest stop. The wife walks inside a convenience store and vanishes. Three years later, the husband is still searching for her. He thinks he may have found a lead when he's contacted by a strange man who seems to have pertinent information. The nuances, the acting, the camerawork, everything is done very well up until the end of the film. I would not dream of giving away the ending, but I was not at all surprised or impressed with the resolution. I doubt you will be either. 1 hour, 42 minutes
Rating: 
Summary: I would've loved it if I'd not seen the US version's trailer
Review: This is the original Norwegian version of a film remade in America, by the same director, no less, about a boyfriend who becomes obsessed after his girlfriend vanishes right from under his nose at a gas station. Because I wanted to see the original after seeing the trailer for the American version and hearing the original had a far better ending, I bought the Criterion DVD of this and watched it. The ending probably would've shocked me more if I hadn't seen the trailer for the American version, which gave the closing plot twist away. I've never been more angry at my own culture in my life. If you want to see this, don't even bother watching the trailer for the other movie, which starred Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland. This surprise ending would've chilled me to the bone ... if I'd not already seen Kiefer Sutherland live through it in the trailer.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Psychological Thriller
Review: I just finished watching it. It is now nearly 2am and I cannot stop thinking about the movie. The script writer, director and photographer did a great job with this film. Many nice details were carefully attended to. The pacing of the film, though methodic, is even. Overall I think I enjoyed it, but it did hit the psyche rather hard. (I realize my scoring criteria may seem weird, but in all seriousness, I only give a film five stars if it is absolutely in a class by itself, and cannot be diminished in any way. I think most people tend to give five stars merely because they liked it, not because they have any rigid scale they subscribe to. I'd like to give it three-and-a-half, but I can only give whole numbers.)
Rating:
Summary: Powerful beyond belief--real horror
Review: "The Vanishing" is one of the most terrifying films I've ever seen, but not in the usual sense of the word "terror". This is disturbing in a way not done since Hitchcock or Bergman. While many will mistake this for a "thriller" or a mere tale of kidnapping, etc, but there is something going on here that suggests far more than the (extremely intriguing, suffice to say) story. This is a horror film about the human condition itself. If he wasn't dead, I would have thought Camus had directed it. Beneath the calm facade of everyday life lies arbitrariness and chaos--absurdity. On a beautiful day Saskia, a gorgeous young French woman, simply disappears after going into buy a soft drink for her boyfriend as they are on a biking trip together. She never emerges. The reason, which is indeed horrible, is not so significant as the fact--she simply disappears. Her boyfriend's descent into near madness via obsession rivals many classic movies I would consider sacred. How can a human being with friends, lovers, parents, etc, disappear into thin air? Where is the justice, the knowing?
This, I believe, is what the director is trying to convey--there is none, and at no point does ultimate knowledge about anything enter our lives. The ending is horrifying but absolutely necessary, which is why the remake is nothing but a waste of celluloid. The most significant scene is the dialogue between the kidnapper and Saskia's boyfriend during the downpour near the gas station. The key to his motive for this atrocity is "the eternal not knowing"--he wants someone to share the pain of life's complete uncertainty. A masterpiece.
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