Movie Review - The Vanishing (1988)

The Vanishing (4 of 5): This is a pretty cool foreign movie about a man who obsessively searches for his girlfriend for three years after she disappears at a rest stop while the two are on a road trip. His investigation draws the attention of her abductor who is a mild-mannered professor and family man. Using flashbacks, the movie shows how the kidnapper carefully plans the woman's abduction and contacts the boyfriend, promising to reveal to him the woman's fate.

This movie was pretty cool because it explored both the pursuits of the boyfriend trying to find his girlfriend and the sociopathic pursuits of the abductor. This approach really makes you get a better feel for the characters and understand the abductor's thoughts a little more. He becomes more human and a lot scarier as a result. Anyway, this is my kind of thriller/horror movie - completely believable, scary and sticks with your subconscious for days. Its great psychological horror.

I have not seen the Sandra Bullock/Jeff Bridges remake of this movie, buy I hear it sucks in comparison. I won't ruin the end of the movie, but I will say it is pretty cool. In the end, both the boyfriend and the abductor get what they want, and more.