The Vanishing

It's hard to talk about "The Vanishing," because to talk about "The Vanishing" is to talk about its ending. And nobody wants to give away this movie's ending.

Ostensibly a thriller, the 1988 picture, directed by the late George Sluizer (he passed last month), is actually more like a psychological horror movie: A man's girlfriend disappears during a routine stop at a gas station, leaving the man to writhe in existential agony for the years that follow. Eventually, he gets a chance to find out what happened to her, but only if he subjects himself to the same fate - whatever that may be.

"The Vanishing" isn't your traditional horror movie, and it isn't standard-issue Halloween fare. Sluizer reveals to us, early on and without much fanfare, who perpetrated the harrowing disappearance. The interest, then, is psychological: How far will a man go to unravel the mysteries of his own life, even when he knows they will not bring him closure but only further pain? That's a pretty Hitchcockian idea to base a film around, and Sluizer's approach is appropriately exacting: He uses shadows and illusory angles to keep us just as in the dark as the main character is.

Included on the Criterion disc is the film's original trailer, as well as recently conducted interviews with both Sluizer and his lead actress for the film. Sluizer, in particular, is wonderfully unguarded: He discusses things ranging from his preferences for the roles (he didn't get his first choice for the lead role, for instance) to his shooting process. But this is one of those movies where less is more -- you certainly don't want for additional extras. "The Vanishing" is very specifically about the pain of not knowing, after all. How much context do you need for that?

"The Vanishing"
Blu-ray
Criterion.com
$39.95