Disappearance (film)

Disappearance is a 2002 television movie first aired on TBS and later was released on DVD.

Plot

A family driving through the U.S. state of New Mexico discover an old ghost town, Weaver, and stop to take snapshots. Patrons at an estranged diner, in a lobotomized or brainwashed state, claim to not have heard of Weaver, although a gas-station attendant warns Jim Henley to "stay on the pavement". Henley, his wife Patty, his son Matt, along with Matt's friend Ethan and sister Kate make their way to the ghost town, discovering mysterious symbols and a human-sized dry skin on a wall, also discovering a video tape, which reveals previous visitors were taken by an unseen force, ending with a girl running from the unseen threat. The car is disabled and the family is forced to spend the night in one of the abandoned buildings. The unseen person/force steals their car, along with a flashlight and Jim's sweater.

The next day, the family discovers the car has been stolen. Deciding to split up, Kate, Patty, and Matt remain in the building while Jim and Ethan set out for the diner. Ethan is attacked by a snake in the desert, but it only bites his wallet. Jim and Ethan also discover a large expanse of glass in the middle of the desert - a plaque in the centre of which reveals it to be a 1948 neutron bomb test site called "Ground Zero". Ethan vanishes when walking just ahead of Jim over a ridge, and Jim runs off to a nearby car graveyard glimpsed in the distance, where many stolen vehicles, including his SUV are parked in the same fashion as the symbol on the wall. Meanwhile, Patty goes to use the bathroom, notices someone watching her, but falls through rotten boards into a mine shaft. Patty hears growling sounds from below, and climbs further up, discovering many stolen items including a familiar sweater. Matt and Kate search for Patty until Matt finds her, climbing down the mine to help her. The source of the sound, one of the unseen stalkers seen only from 1st person camera movement, makes its way faster to Patty and Matt, however before it can do anything, Patty shoots at it with a gun, though no body is discovered and it is uncertain whether it was harmed. Jim rescues them in the SUV after evading another one or more of the mysterious creatures attempting to prevent him recovering a battery for the car from the vehicle graveyard, only for their way out of Weaver to be blocked by a seemingly driverless school-bus and truck, forcing Jim to drive them both through a clapboard outbuilding to escape.

They stop to use a telephone at the diner, but it is useless. Jim and Matt spot a dust cloud moving in their direction from the vicinity of Weaver.

Jim visits Sheriff Richards in the nearby town of Two Wells, telling him about Ethan's disappearance, the town of Weaver, where the townspeople vanished without a trace, and the unseen beings attacking them. The Sheriff denies all knowledge of the town, but while he is away, Jim is pulled aside by an old inmate named Lester, who gives him a possible explanation, telling him the town does exist and the unseen force is possibly the mutated, deformed offspring of the townspeople, reminiscent of The Hills Have Eyes, who refused evacuation before the bomb was dropped, or the spirits of Indians interred in a burial ground under the town, also mentioning Area 51, although telling Jim aliens are not necessarily the explanation for the unseen forces in Weaver - whether this is anything to do with the truth or simply the ramblings of a madman is never made clear.

Kate finds the girl from the video apparently alive, working at the local Dairy Queen, though by the time the family return to confirm this she's 'gone off-shift' and is nowhere to be seen. The family stays at a motel, after the Sheriff agrees to search for Ethan the next day. Kate senses one of the beings watching them from the window, prompting them to decide to leave at once.

Sheriff Richards, as a possible sacrifice and exchange, or because of his revelation to Jim, takes Lester to the desert, lights a fire, and leaves him for 'the beings'.

Jim and Patty take Matt and Kate, attempting to flee, but are stopped by the Sheriff, who first attempts to dissuade them from leaving and eventually tells them that he found Ethan. The four of them pick up Ethan, Jim seeing Lester's empty cell.

Meanwhile, as the five of them flee, Ethan tells them he fell and does not remember anything else, while Matt questions the events. As Jim is distracted, the car hits what appears to be an animal, possibly possessed by the Indian spirits, or one of the unseen mutants, causing the SUV to flip over. The viewpoint of one of the unseen creatures makes its way to the wrecked car, only their screams being heard afterwards.

Six Months later, Jim is now the gas-station attendant, while Patty works as the waitress in the diner, all of them in the same lobotomized state as the other members of the town of Two Wells, New Mexico. After Kate has served Sheriff Richards at the diner, the film ends with Kate feeding one of the crows as several bikers turn up at the diner, very possibly to begin the cycle all over again.

Cast

• Jim Henley - Harry Hamlin
• Patty Henley - Susan Dey
• Matt Henley - Jeremy Lelliott
• Kate Henley - Basia A'Hern
• Ethan - Jamie Croft
• Sheriff Richards - Jeremy Kewley
• Lester - Roger Newcombe
• Lisa – Victoria Dixon-Whittle
• Tammy – Annie Carter
• Old Man – Ian Boyce
• Assistant Deputy – Robert MacPherson
• Ice-Cream Waitress – Nikki Fort
• Steve – Christopher James Taylor
• Rachel – Charlotte Rees
• Brian - Paul Reichstein
• Bill the Cook - Dominic Pedlar
• Biker (1) - Claude Revi
• Biker (2) - Clive Cunningham

Production

• Both Disappearance and Night Gallery were tagged with "Eerie".

Broadcast and DVD release

Disappearance was first broadcast in the United States on TBS on April 21, 2002. It was later released on DVD on January 21, 2003.^[1]

References

1. ↑ http://www.blockbusteronline.com/movies/disappearance.html

External links

• Disappearance at the Internet Movie Database