Review of Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) by David K — 01 Dec 2011

This is a movie that looked very promising from the trailers and considering it is from the same film maker that brought us 'The Machinist', which I liked, I had high hopes for an interesting and thrilling ride.

What I got instead was a dull and seemingly uninspired ride that seemed to have no reasoning for anything happening on the screen. In a way, watching the film felt rather akin to listening to someone tell a joke that has no punch line.

I have read some discussions that liken events in the movie to the rapture, but I have no detailed knowledge of events of the rapture so I can't comment personally on that, but within it's own world the film doesn't make much sense.

There seems to be no real rhyme or reason as to how or why the 'shadows' do what they do, and there isn't any payoff by the time the end credits role. The story is intriguing initially, but never maintains that interest .

The movie is nicely photographed, using light and darkness to nice effect. The special effects are kind of hit and miss, creating effective visuals at one point, and then ones that look a little shoddy.

The performances of the cast are quite uneven as well, sometimes it feels like they are just going through the motions. While I do enjoy films the challenge me and require thought input, it really helps when there is a message to find by thinking the movie through.

And if there is a message behind this film, it is lost on me.