Disappearance on TBS

[john]

Did anyone else watch this? It's on again tonight (Weds.)

 It starts with a family taking a trip cross country and making a detour to visit a ghost town. They find some strange things and the whole town looks like everyone just got up and left. When they try to leave their car won't start so they have to spend the night. Someone or something is stalking them and in the morning, the car is gone. So dad and the son's friend decide to hike across the desert for help, leaving stepmom, son and daughter alone in the town.

 While watching this movie, I thought it had a lot of atmosphere and even managed to creep me out a little. I liked it right up until the end, or I should say, the point where the movie stopped. It was then that I realized that the disappearance the title refers to is the last chapter of the script!

 That's right, it doesn't explain ANYTHING! One character has a couple theories, but you never learn if they're correct or not. In fact, the movie shows you some things that could only be explained by the supernatural.

 It's a shame because this movie has some really effective scenes, especially a couple while the father and friend are walking through the desert, but there's no payoff. You never learn the reason for anything.

[systemcr4sh]

i'll try and catch it tonight. But from what it sounds like, the ending is trying to leave you thinking about the movie. "Did they get out?" "What was really stalking them?" and such. Everyone will have a theory about it. Which could make the film even better when you think about it. But only if it is handled in a good way.

-Dan

[Cullen]

They didn't.  Hope you enjoy it when you see it, systemcr4sh.

[systemcr4sh]

haha, I'll try.

-Dan

[john]

>But from what it sounds like, the ending is trying to leave you thinking about the
>movie. "Did they get out?" "What was really stalking them?" and such.
>Everyone will have a theory about it. Which could make the film even better
>when you think about it.

 The problem is that there's really no theory you could come up with that would explain all the things you saw, at least not in any way that makes sense.

 Let me know what you think after you've seen it.

[Akira Tubo]

I watched this and it was quite good, until the last part.  The characters weren't total idiots, Harry Hamlin's character was an out-and-out genius for this kind of movie.

For the events to make sense, there would have to be at least two seperate menaces here, one physical, one supernatural.

Ford got their product placement money's worth, hehe.

[systemcr4sh]

I liked it. I thought the ending was OK. I liked how when he found his car and is driving away he hits a bog mound of dirt and catches air, but when its in the air it looks like a completely different car. I didn't mind the ending. I would've liked to have some closure on what it was that was stalking them.  I'm sure when other people are watching it they aren't going to pick it apart like we do.

-Dan

[Akira Tubo]

I didn't mind the ending itself, just that it felt like a cop-out.  The movie was moving in a totally different direction for most of its running time and then slapped us with the big "twist" finale.

It's like a mystery movie that reveals the killer to be someone who isn't introduced until the final five minutes, after leading us to believe it was one of the main characters.

Not shocking, just sloppy.

[john]

The whole movie was a copout.

 What was stalking them? What was causing the instant dust storms? If it could do things like that, why did it need to pull wires to keep the car from starting? How did the kid just vanish out in the desert? Why was the sheriff protecting it/them? What hit the car at the end? What brainwashed them into staying in the town? What was that symbol?