Taglines: If someone you loved mysteriously vanished how far out of your mind would you go to find them?
The Vanishing movie storyline. Jeff Harriman (Kiefer Sutherland) goes on vacation with his girlfriend Diane Shaver (Sandra Bullock), who vanishes without a trace at a gas station. Three years later, Jeff is still obsessed with finding out what happened. One day, Barney Cousins (Jeff Bridges) arrives at Jeff’s door and admits that he was responsible for her disappearance. Cousins promises to show Jeff what happened to Diane, but only if he agrees to go through exactly the same thing she did.
In a short series of flash-backs, the build-up to the crime is shown. Jeff is taken to the gas station where his lover went missing, and is told that if he drinks a cup of coffee which has been drugged, he will discover her fate by experiencing it. He does, and wakes up to find he has been buried alive.
Jeff’s new girlfriend, Rita (Nancy Travis), has traced him and his abductor to the area, and discovers just in time what has happened. She gets Cousins to drink drugged coffee by talking about his daughter, but does not realize the drug takes 15 minutes to take effect. She goes in search of Jeff, but is thwarted at the last minute by Cousins.
The Vanishing is a 1993 American psychological thriller starring Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, Sandra Bullock, Park Overall, Maggie Linderman, Lisa Eichhorn, Lynn Hamilton and Susan Barnes. It is an American remake of a 1988 Franco-Dutch film also called The Vanishing, and also directed by George Sluizer.
The Vanishing was released in theatres on February 5, 1993 in 1,656 theatres. For its opening weekend, it landed at #4 at the box office grossing $5.0 million. It gross $6.2 million in its first week. For the second weekend, it dropped to #7 grossing $3.5 million. Finally in its third weekend, it dropped out of the top ten charts to #14 grossing $1.4 million. After three weeks in theatres, the film eventually made $12.3 million, giving a total of $14.5 million. It was considered to be a box office bomb & it failed to bring back its $23 million budget.
Film Review for The Vanishing
Surprisingly demented and creepy is the best way to describe the 1993 film The Vanishing, directed by George Sluizer, and it is a film that, to this reviewer, is astonished to find that most horror fans are completely unaware of. While the film’s subject matter alone is rather disturbing, it is Jeff Bridges exceptional performance and portrayal of a very smart, yet somewhat bumbling, mentally ill abductor that truly sets and carries the film’s suspenseful tone. And, since Bridges is rarely seen cast as such a wicked character, many fans may find this somewhat hard to comprehend. Regardless, none will be able to deny that he certainly delivers, making the film incredibly believable.
Barney Cousins (Jeff Bridges) is a chemistry teacher who is has a deep secret. He is also a cold, calculating and confident abductor. However, regardless of his meticulous and methodical planning, he knows mistakes will always made.
Traveling back home after an outing, Jeff Harriman (Kiefer Sutherland) and Diane Shaver (Sandra Bullock) stop at a truck stop for drinks. Jeff quickly runs inside, only to find that when he returns, Diane is missing. Perplexed, he thinks that maybe she has decided to go into the store too, and isn’t overly concerned. However, this soon changes as time passes and she doesn’t return and he begins to frantically search for her to no avail.
Fast-forward to a time after the police have long since joined and given up on the search, cataloging Diane in the unsolved mystery slush pile. But Jeff, now a shell of his former self, has not and still seeks answers and it is primarily through his eyes that the tale is told.
Barney has watched these events unfold and remains focused on Jeff and his actions, for he is under the delusion that this is all some sort of diabolical science experiment. However, during a trip back to the scene of the crime, Jeff runs into Rita Baker (Nancy Travis), an old high school friend, and the two forge a relationship.
Fast-forward again to Jeff and Rita now living together and planning their future. Jeff still harbors a deep love for Diane and is haunted by his past. Rita, while understanding, thinks it’s time for him to put the past to rest. Jeff lies and agrees, and has an elaborate scheme, implying that he is in the military reserves, needing to attend duty two weekends a month. On those days away, he secretly continues the quest from a command center hotel room not far from where Diane had disappeared. Rita finds out and decides to leave him.
And yet, Barney is still watching and growing increasingly worried that he will eventually be caught due to some oversight and hatches another experiment, this time to rid himself of Jeff. After making contact with the premise of explaining what actually occurred, Jeff has no alternative but to go along Barney in order to obtain answers.
Meanwhile, Rita stumbles upon a revelation that will blow the case wide open and intends to inform Jeff. However, Jeff is already in Barney’s clutches and the race is on as Rita isn’t about to give up the man she loves and has a plan of her own.
While it may be considered by many to be inferior to the Dutch original entitled Spoorloos, (unseen by this reviewer and therefore unable to compare), the film does seem a bit dated by today’s film industry technical standards. But, this said, the aspects most definitely don’t take away from the dark and thought provoking film, probably making The Vanishing one of the best relatively unknown American-made psychological horror flicks out there, even with it’s mostly predicable Hollywood style ending.
The Vanishing (1993)
Directed by: George Sluizer
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, Sandra Bullock, Park Overall, Maggie Linderman, Lisa Eichhorn, Lynn Hamilton, Susan Barnes
Screenplay by: Todd Graff
Production Design by: Jeannine Oppewall
Cinematography by: Peter Suschitzky
Film Editing by: Bruce Green
Costume Design by: Durinda Wood
Set Decoration by: Anne H. Ahrens
Art Direction by: Steven Wolff
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith
MPAA Rating: R for terror and violence, and for language.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: February 5, 1993
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