The Vanishing (1988)

George Sluizer’s chilling thriller has garnered a reputation as one of the most shocking films in cinema history, although probably not for the reasons you may immediately think of if you haven’t seen it. Based on Tim Krabbe’s novel The Golden Egg, we’re introduced to a married Dutch couple in France on holiday. After stopping at a service station, Saskia goes to get her husband Rex a drink, but never returns. The initial set up is identical to Breakdown (1997) a film that came almost a decade later starring Kurt Russell as man whose wife disappears at a service station, but this is the point where the two films disperse with similarities. What makes Sluizer’s film so compelling is that we know very early on who’s responsible for Saskia’s vanishing; it’s the process then of finding out why the person has done whatever it is they’ve done. The Vanishing works because at no point are we clear what has actually happened to Saskia; after her disappearance the film jumps forward three years and then proceeds to spend as much time with Rex as it does with the person responsible for Rex’s situation. Unable to let it go, he continues to appear on TV programmes and take out large loans to fund campaigns to find out what happened to his wife. Sluizer’s film is gripping from start to finish, Hitchcockian at times in its delivery and suspense, and although perhaps hard to get hold of (you can bag it on eBay for just under a ten sheet like myself) it’s more than worth the time and effort. Although I haven’t seen Sluizer’s own 1993 American remake, the general consensus seems to be to avoid it at all costs, so make sure you’re after the right one! 8.0/10