I wish I never watched this film

I had the same reaction when I first watched it on tv way back in the 90s. Just flicking around channels late one night I missed the first 5 minutes but started watching it anyway. After watching I couldn't stop thinking about the ending for what seemed like forever afterwards. What happens at the end of the movie was something that I had never ever considered before, I mean the actual situation Rex finds himself in after the fade to black, the actual concept of... and boy did it get to me. I would think about it every day, mentally put myself in Rex's place, what if that ever happened to me, what if I woke one day to find myself....

It got to the point where I honestly thought it would be on my mind forever, that every day for the rest of my life I would think about that scene with Rex and his lighter. I don't know how long it took, I genuinely think months, until a day when I didn't think about it but one day I realised that a 24 hour period had passed and I hadn't thought about it.

I've watched it since and it's still an amazing film but nothing beats the power of watching it for the first time not knowing what is coming after the climax.

* SPOILER *

The concept of being 'buried alive' has been exceptionally frightening ever since (or even before) the Vestal Virgins who violated the oath of celibacy were punished by live burial, 2000 years ago.

It has been a literary theme ever since Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Premature Burial".

So it is no wonder that the very idea gets to you. It is to George Sluizer's (the movie's director's) credit that he filmed it in a way that gets on your nerves, without it being trashy or gory.

Look at it this way, after seeing this movie, someone is far less likely to trust a stranger, no matter what the circumstances are, and override their instincts, like when Saskia hesitated to get into Raymond's car, but decided to do so after seeing the photo of him with his family.

If it galvanizes an individual's level of caution and awareness, then there is definitely a silver lining to the cloud of the effect this fictional movie had.

i felt the same way for a long time after watching the film for the first time. now that i have watched it like 20 times, that feeling of pure horror turned into fascination. IMHO it is one of the best, most effective films ever done.

Perhaps you could take solace in the fact that Rex is a tormented soul who only finds peace when he's in the box at the end, when his golden egg collides with Saskia's and they're reunited. He welcomes his destiny.

Also it wouldn't be that long before he became delirious from lack of oxygen and passed out.

It is indeed quite a disturbing film.

[SPOILERS I GUESS]
I think what disturbs me the most is how, moments before he abducts Saskia at the gas station, Raymond is laughing at himself for his failed abduction attempt (because he sneezed) and seems to have given up on his sinister plan for the day (he throws away the fake cast and sling).
And then, out of sheer bad luck or fate or whatever you want to call it, the stars align, everything coalesces (Saskia noticing the key chain with an "R", the box of tiles on Ray's car's backseat, the family picture on his dashboard, etc. all of these unplanned by Raymond) and Saskia's fate is sealed. It's like the Universe wants her to be abducted and murdered, and she somehow knew it all along (her 'golden egg dream' and premonitions, echoed throughout the film).

Of course, at heart, this film is really about determinism (Saskia's inescapable fate and the myriad of elements that build up towards it) vs. free-will (where is it written that I will not jump or drink the coffee?), and two persons struggling at an existential level with their implications.

Tell me about it.
I actually saw this in a cinema when it was recommended by a friend who knew I liked interesting movies. Took my new girlfriend along (not a first date film) and we were really upbeat going in. After it finished (that last scene really works in a darkened cinema if you know what I mean) we got up and walked 10 minutes to our car and got in and it was then we had both realised that we hadn't said a word to each other from the time we left the cinema. Even weeks later we would tell each other how that film was still really disturbing us.
Now I get that it was very well made, but to this day I have not rewatched it even though I had downloaded it 10 years ago.
I did watch the PoC that was the travesty that was US version because I knew there was no way they were going to remake the original which was kinda strange because it was made by the same guy.

I remember seeing this in the theater, and I agree with you. It was bleak and stupid.