The 1988 film Spoorloos is considered a horror movie by some critics, but I would say that this movie is more of a thriller than a horror film due to the fact that horror films usually deal with a person's nightmares and the antagonist is usually of supernatural (but not always) origin. In this regard, I think horror films have the viewer asking "What is happening?" In Spoorloos the viewer is asking, "How did it happen?" and "What will happen next?", which in turn makes Spoorloos more of a crime thriller. The film is based around the main character named Rex who is searching for the kidnapper/murderer of an old girlfriend named Saskia who mysteriously went missing while he and she were on a biking trip three years prior. It showcases the various struggles that Rex deal with while trying to move on (unsuccessfully) from Saskia kidnapping as well as how the kidnapper/murderer named Raymond committed the deed.
I say the Spoorloos is a thriller because the movie starts out with the crime being done (the kidnapping of Saskia). We then see Rex looking around Saskia, but what we feel as viewers is more panic than fear, mainly because we have seen shots of Raymond watching Saskia. His watching elicits a suspicious and fear for Saskia, even tough we know what is going to happen. When Saskia goes missing our suspicions are thus confirmed. This is the only point in the movie in which the question of "What is going to happen?" could be asked by the viewer.
As we continue through the movie we see various scenes of Rex and Raymond crossing paths: Raymond and Rex passing missing posts of Saskia, Raymond watching Rex get interviewed on TV, Raymond observing Rex after he sends Rex a letter telling him he wants to meet, etc. During these encounters the viewer asks "When will they meet?" not "Are they going to meet?" simply because we have seen that both parties have an obsession with each other: Rex wants to find Saskia's kidnapper/murderer and Raymond wants to meet Rex out of curiosity. These questions are not questions one would ask in a horror film. There is no surprise because the viewer knows what is going to happen, its just a matter of when. The viewer (at least me) is not scared because they/I know they are going to meet.
When Rex and Raymond do meet, and Raymond tells Rex that the only way for him to know what happened to Saskia is to experience what she experienced, the viewer/I knows that Rex's curiosity will take over. Rex goes on this journey and throughout we hope that Rex can curb his curiousity to survive. Otherwise Rex will share the same fate as Saskia. The fact that we know what will happen if Rex chooses one way or another is another element that makes this movie a thriller. In horror films there are not choices that the viewer can anticipate the what will happen to the characters. In this film we know know the outcome depending on Rex's choices. Ultimately this is what sets this film apart from a horror film. The audience knows the outcome, but the movie just illustrates how the outcome came to be. Thus making this film a thriller rather than a horror film.
No comments:
Post a Comment