Disappearance (2002) Harry Hamlin, Susan Dey, Jeremy Lelliott, Basia A'Hern, Jamie Croft, Jeremy Kewley, Roger Newcombe, Victoria Dixon-Whittle, Annie Carter, Ian Boyce Movie Review

Disappearance (2002)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Harry Hamlin and Susan Dey in Disappearance (2002)

The Hills Have Little

Jim Henley (Harry Hamlin - Murder So Sweet) and his family are driving across country when they decide to take a brief detour to an abandoned mining town so that one of Jim's sons can take photos. What they find is a town which looks like it is was a normal town one minute and then people abandoned it the next with crockery still on tables and so on. But they also find some strange things on the walls whilst when they head back to their vehicle to leave it strangely won't start. After spending the night in an abandoned building Jim wakes to find his vehicle has been stolen and with one of his sons head out to find it only to experience more strange goings on as it feels like they are being followed.

"Disappearance" is a horror movie for those who don't watch horror movies, not just because it is short on horror but also because for those who do horror will be able to read between the lines and take a good stab of what is going on. As such the set up of an abandoned town seemingly inhabited one minute and then vacated the next screams nuclear bomb or alien abduction. The fact that those in a diner, which the family visit before they reach the town, know nothing about the place screams they are in or what is going on in one shape or another. And then there is the sense that something is stalking the family, well maybe these hills have mutant eyes or perhaps alien ones. Basically "Disappearance" is filled with cliches and just a couple of nice ideas thrown in to the mix, although even then sharp eyed audiences are likely to spot a reveal as to what will happen early on when we have the scenes in the diner.

The worst thing about all this is that not only is "Disappearance" fuelled by cliches but the family in this lack any depth as such we simply have 5 characters in the middle of nowhere. Yes we learn that Patty Henley is in fact the children's stepmother but that adds nothing to the story as a child resentment sub plot is under worked. It simply makes it a difficult movie to get involved with because it struggles to draw you in to the people and the danger they end up in.

What this all boils down to is that "Disappearance" did little for me with only a couple of ideas actually grabbing my attention. But this is a movie which draws on horror cliches and as such horror movie fans are likely to be left under whelmed by it all.


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