10 Horror Movies That Don't Start As Horror Movies
4. The Vanishing
George Sluizer's incredible 1988 dutch horror The Vanishing spends a good chunk of its first act simply observing protagonists Rex (Gene Bervoets) and Saskia (Johanna ter Steege) as they vacation in France. And even when Saskia suddenly vanishes from a rest stop, the tone is initially more of a mystery-thriller, especially once we're introduced to the antagonist, Raymond (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), and flashbacks show him perfecting his kidnapping methods.
But it isn't really until The Vanishing's shocking finale that it becomes a true, card-carrying horror film.
At this point, Rex meets up with Raymond, who pours a cup of drugged coffee and urges Rex to drink it, promising to show him what happened to Saskia by doing the same thing to him.
An incensed, obsessed Rex reluctantly takes the drink, after which he wakes up buried alive in a box underground, confined to his terrifying fate all while Raymond returns to his blissfully unaware family.
Needless to say, that's one hell of a hard pivot.