"The Vanishing" Horror Film

The formal definition of a horror film is certainly debatable and there are a series of different explanations for why people choose classify a given movie as being a horror film. This debate is definitely present when discussing the genre of George Sluizer's 1988 film, The Vanishing. I argue that this movie is indeed a horror film mainly for one reason; the presence of a terror that evokes a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. In my opinion, there is no need for the antagonist to be monstrous or supernatural, only that the the primary purpose of the film is to elicit real/realistic fear from the audience. In this film, the protagonist, Rex, is buried alive by Raymond just like he had done to Saskia after kidnapping her earlier in the film. Being buried alive is a very real and rational fear for many people. For this reason, many find the thought or image of being buried alive to be profoundly horrifying. Sure, I can agree that the film does lack some of the suspense-building aspects that are tradition in most typical horror film's but it still contains the primary trait that all horror films need; that presence of a terror that evokes the audience's primal fears. For this reason, I believe that Sluizer's The Vanishing truly is a horror film.