Reading that The Vanishing is considered a horror movie by many critics, I began watching the film with that description in mind. I expected loads of suspense, maybe some murder, I dunno - things that you find in horror movies. Instead, I found the film to be more of a drama, with possibly some psychological thriller tendencies thrown in there, particularly the ending, which just left me feeling pretty empty inside. Obviously, I did find a great amount of suspense within the film, especially in the events leading up to Saskia's kidnapping and immediately after. But the remainder of the film felt more like just a series of events where Rex attempted to find out what happened to her. Until the end, that is, where it brought those horror aspects back into the film. Although I would not say that the few moments of horror make this a horror film, per se.
The scene I want to focus on in proving my point that this is not really a horror film is the scene in which Rex gets in the kidnapper's car and the events that follow. The kidnapper gives Rex an ultimatum, stating that he can either have exactly what happened to Saskia happen to him as well, or that he can walk away without ever knowing her fate. The problem that I have with this scene and the film's being called a horror film is that the interactions between Rex and the kidnapper don't seem very dramatic or terrifying or any other adjective associated with horror at all. Instead, it just comes off as a series of interactions, during which Rex assures the kidnapper that he doesn't hate him and that he just wants to know what happened to Saskia, with the kidnapper telling his life story. It honestly just feels more like a more-dramatic-that-normal drama film to me. That's not to say that it wasn't great, because it was. I just didn't really get a horror vibe from it.
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