Disappearance (2002 TV Movie) 5 of 10 stars ⭐ DO NOT WATCH PAST 1HR:24MIN! You'll be sorry if you do!

DO NOT WATCH PAST 1HR:24MIN! You'll be sorry if you do!

DISAPPEARANCE (TV MOVIE 2001) (Warning: mini spoil alert) 5 of 10 stars ⭐

BASIC PLOT: 

A family goes on a road trip, and finds a ghost town. The town is deserted, but items are left behind that shouldn't be. There's a fully stocked pharmacy, furniture left in the houses, and vehicles still parked out front. When they try to leave, their truck won't start. They continue to look around, and find a forgotten video camera from other sightseers. They play the tape, and realize the same thing happened to those who came before - the car wouldn't start, one by one they disappear. Bewildered, they decide to stay the night and see if the car will start in the morning. But when morning comes, their truck is gone. Jim Henley, the father (Harry Hamlin) and Ethan (Jamie Croft), a family friend, decide to hike out. There are many mysterious happenings, shadows in the night, tunnels open to bottomless pits, creepy locals, impossible disappearances etc. Can this family survive whatever is taunting them?

WHAT WORKS: 

*THIS IS A GREAT ATMOSPHERIC! The setting is creepy, the scares work.

*THE FAMILY DYNAMIC IS GREAT.. You believe they're a real family because of the chemistry between the actors, and the quality performances they deliver. This is also the film's downfall, but this believability is rare for a TV movie.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: 

*WHY DO WOMEN IN MOVIES ALWAYS HATE GUNS? Why are they afraid of them? In movies and TV, there are two types of women. There are badasses who kick butt and have many guns, and mommy types who are terrified of guns. NOT ALL REGULAR WOMEN ARE AFRAID OF GUNS! This is a sexist stereotype that should be eliminated.

*THE HUSBAND MAKES TOO MANY MISTAKES Jim Henley (Harry Hamlin) does too many stupid things in a row. I don't believe a normal father would be THIS STUPID. He cuts across the desert instead of taking the road, he doesn't walk at night in the desert, he takes his shirt off while hiking, he drops an empty canteen, he drives into a sand storm etc.

*FAMILY IS GROSS When the family arrives at the motel, none of them take showers! Not after walking across the desert, or falling down a decrepit mine shaft, none of them take a shower! It's the first thing you'd do, even if you're creeped out.

*THE ENDING DOESN'T WORK! Not because it's ambiguous, but because it's trying to be too many things. You can't have both mutants and a time rift, you've got to pick one.

*THE ENDING DOESN'T WORK II You can't have no one survive\escape in this type of movie. You spend an hour and a half with this family, get to know them, sympathize with them, and then watch them not make it?! Who wants to watch that!? Answer: NO ONE! Walter Klenhard, writer\director, even gives this family a sympathetic back story. Patty Henley (Susan Dey) is the stepmother, the children's mother died from an aneurysm. These people have suffered enough. Shows like The Twilight Zone (1959) understood that you have to give the characters a fatal flaw if you're going to trap them in the zone. Good people escape, bad people get caught, that's the rules of the zone, and horror in general. This movie breaks that rule, and fails as a result.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: 

*If you like shows like The Twilight Zone (1959) then you might like this. I encourage you NOT to watch past the 1 hour 24 minutes mark. You'll regret it if you do.

CLOSING NOTES: 

*THIS IS A MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.