The Vanishing (DVD, 2001, Criterion Collection)

Although you have to put up with subtitles (and some don't like to), this is much better than the American remake starring Jeff Bridges.

In this movie, a man becomes obsessed with his lover's abduction, and proceeds to do everything he can to find out what happened to her. When her abductor offers to re-create the event for him, the man is in for much more than he bargained for.

This is one scary movie, and it's much more of a psychological thriller than a gory-in-your face one. It has similarities to that of Alfred Hitchcock's movies, and is definitely worth watching. Of the two versions, this is the one to see.

George Sluizer's original 1988 thriller is an ambitious suspenseful thriller with many layers of subtext, depth and insightful moments of tension.

A obsessive man (Gene Bervoets) begins a three-year investigation for his missing girlfriend (Johanna ter Steege) who has vanished hence the title, at a roadside convenience store.

Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu gives an underrated performance as a mild-mannered professor/family man with a secretive psychotic side. As soon as he appears on screen, we knew right away who the abductor is.

The movie constantly shifts back-and-forth from Bervoets' search to Donnadieu's private life in an attempt to keep the viewer on the edge of his/her seat. That is until we get to the most-talked about and most-parodied ending in cinema history.

If you have a choice between this version and the American version, then your guess is as good as mine. Although Jeff Bridges is a terrific actor, but he couldn't hold a candle to Donnadieu.

Even though you're already disappointed by the remake, don't let yourself down and see the original VANISHING, then decide for yourself.

The original vanishing is great the ending is truly chilling and a class a examople of how obsession can be deadly the vanishing is one of the best thrillers ever made