05/18/06 The Vanishing

The Vanishing (1993), directed by George Sluizer

watched w/ Leslie (partially); DVD (personal copy) @ home

Once again, an American remake of what most call a far superior foreign film original. Having remembered viewing clips of the original Dutch version in some of my film courses in college a few years back, I was always intrigued to compare both it and the American retread. It just seems that I got the order messed up and will have to backtrack in comparison. The plot is twisted and shockingly realistic, enough that it should make you worry terribly about this situation happening in real life. It follows a young couple in love, on a road trip, and in the midst of lovers' quarrel they come to a secluded truck stop for a break. Leading up to the unfortunate meeting of the story's villain Barney (a creepy chemistry professor with a need to understand deranged human psyche), we see how he has methodically plotted a chance to abduct a woman in order to prove that all the good in his life can be balanced by such evil. The woman happens to be Diane (Sandra Bullock) who vanishes in plain site from her waiting boyfriend Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland), which sends Jeff on a maddening 3-year quest to find her and her abductor. Flash forward to the present day, and Jeff has seemingly moved on in his life with a new girlfriend, work as a writer, etc....when he is sucked back quickly into the obsessive world of finding a missing person. It's an obsessive fix that has haunted him, and nothing short of the truth will set him free. I think Jeff Bridges plays the creepy villain well, off-setting his malice with a awkwardly nerdy family life & eccentric habits. He reaches out to find Jeff and promise to show him the truth, if and only if he agrees to one final hellish ride with Barney to go through the same things Diane did so many years ago. It's genuinely creepy at times, with a pretty good climactic ending...however, I'm sure the original one is better. A decent attempt at an overly-budgeted remake...and surprisingly, the same director (Sluizer) was tapped to helm both versions...that's not too common.

3 out of 5 stars