Hide and Seek (2005, DVD)

At their new home in upstate New York, newly widowed psychologist David Callaway tries desperately to help his traumatized daughter Emily deal with her mother's death but before long, both David and Emily are being terrorized by someone or something named Charlie: a "friend" who may or may not be imaginary but is definitely the stuff nightmares are made of!

Spoilers are in this review.

Cast/Acting:
Powerful cast is in Hide And Seek. Staring Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Shue and Famke Janssen.
Robert De Niro is THE type of guy that would be found in mobster movies...not in a scary movie. In Hide And Seek, Robert does an excellent job. In any movie, I think he does a really good job. Robert's emotions in this movie were top-notch. When he was yelling at Dakota, it was powerful. He was really angry. Robert's speaking and acting role is really good and one of the best you'll ever see. When Robert turned into a bad-buy, you weren't scared of him but I wouldn't want to be there with him. Robert's acting is nothing to miss in Hide And Seek.
Dakota Fanning stars also with Robert De Niro as his daughter. Ok, Dakota doesn't show much daughter-and-father comparability because Dakota is the quiet one and plus, in the movie, you think she's possessed by Charlie. Anyway, she's a brilliant actress. Her role in Hide And Seek is a stretch for her because she's sometimes a rude and plain creepy daughter. Sometimes I felt like smacking Dakota for being so damn rude--it seems that real folks! Her speaking role is top-notch--although she doesn't speak too much in the movie, what you hear from her is a treasure. Her acting goes great with Robert De Niro side by side.
Elizabeth Shue plays as the mother of a daughter. You only see Elizabeth in maybe 4 scenes from the whole movie. When she comes on screen, I'm sure everyone is happy to see her because her acting is extremely brilliant! Her speaking role is extremely good as her emotions just top that! Nothing is short of Elizabeth Shue. She's a one of a kind actress.
Famke Janssen is another psychologist in Hide And Seek. You only get to see her maybe three or four times out of the movie so enjoy her while you can. Her acting is pretty good actually compared to other movies I've seen her play in--Ghost Ship. Her speaking role is actually pretty good and she has emotion during those scenes and that emotion is really good especially coming near the end where she has to scream and kill Robert.
A powerful and celebrity cast in awaiting you in Hide And Seek. Sadly, that is the only thing that satisfied me besides some of the scares.

Gore:
For a R rating, you do get some but please, there were maybe three to four scenes of gore and they were wet. Well, if you mean wet by it being in a bathtub, then yes, it was wet and guess what? The only gore you see in Hide And Seek are the scenes of the bathtub! You don't get any gore anywhere else! Plus, all the gore was in here looked like damn red Kool-Aid! The R rating really disappointed me in this movie. You'll see why in the CONS!

Scare/Action Factor:
Okay, I must give Hide And Seek credit for the scares. Hide And Seek does have scares but only a few really scared the sh*t out of me. Those scenes involved when the lights went out in the basement and Emily's basement. Also, the scene at the end where Robert kept turning the flashlight off on Emily and all you see is Emily's face getting closer as the flashlight kept going off. Suddenly, you see Robert's face when the flashlight came on and Famke is pointing a gun at Robert as that scene happened. Also, you do get a disturbing image here and there and guess what? Those disturbing scenes were at the bathtub. Sometimes I wondered; Okay, so all the scares and gore is in the bathtub scenes.
Action-Factor is in the CONS!

Special Effects:
This is another thing that disappointed me. There were maybe four to five effects in the movie and guess what? They were in the bathtub scenes! This gets quite old when all the gore/scares/special effects show up at the bathtub scenes! But wait! There was only two special effects that weren't in the bathtub--Elizabeth's death scene and the ghost-like image of Charlie. You see Elizabeth being pushed out of the top window. Okay, it looked good. but it went by fast. That ghost image of Charlie looked good too but again, it went by too fast to tell if it was fake. I'm sure it was fake by no means.

Sound Effects:
Another disappointing category. Okay, the doors slamming, curtains being forced to slide open, raining, gun firing, glass shatters, closet opening, music etc. are sharp and loud; music and the above effects are really good and gets you tense but the voices of the actors are very low. I had to turn my TV really loud--almost to the point where it wouldn't go up any farther to hear these excellent actors talk--and my tv isn't a little one--it's a big-screen tv! Once again, Hide And Seek fails.

Cons:
Okay, we got through that, but now, here's the real sh*t that got on my damn nerves!
The concept is simple yet but it has been used before--one way or another. A little girl that has an imaginary friend that turns evil--but here's the twist--there is no Charlie. In fact, Robert De Niro is Charlie and Charlie is Dad. Robert De Niro has a split personality in Hide And Seek and he kills all these people for no freaking reason! This bugged the sh*t out of me because it seemed to rip me off. Oh and plus, this little shock was ripped out of the movie Secret Window staring Johnny Depp.
The action in Hide And Seek is very disappointing. It starts off slow but then gets into some action but its execution is just stupid. It seems that the action is just a tease until the movie ends with that little shock of Robert being the killer AND Charlie. Those action scenes just distract you and plus, it helps reveals the little shock at the end of the final two or three scenes.
Also, things don't get any better because it feels and it does--the movie seems forced. You get the opening of the movie which is the mother dying and then you get the family moving into the house AND then you get the rest of the movie unveiling which doesn't make any damn sense. I had several questions after and during the movie. One--Why is Dakota running into her room when she can run down the stairs and out the door while Robert/Charlie is seeking her? Second--Why and how did Robert become to have a split personality? Third--Why the hell did Robert/Charlie kill the four victims? Fourth--Why the hell does Robert wake up at the same damn time in the morning--2:06 A.M.? There are tons of questions that need to be answered and THATS why the movie feels rushed. I can't help but think that the creators of this dreadful movie just wanted to make a movie just to have a little shock in the movie for viewers to gasp. But that little shock doesn't work as the story unveils it too quickly.
What is up with the R rating? There are only a couple of disturbing images--can you believe that those images are in the bathtub scenes? WOW! What a shock folks! I can understand the violence part but please, Hide And Seek can easily be a PG-13 movie. I expected tons of disturbing images but there are only the bathtub scenes and one other scene. The R rating is just silly.

Bottom Line:
I hope all this negative stuff from my review will keep you away from Hide And Seek because it is one dreadful, slow ride into a daughter and father troubled relationship. Hide And Seek does have a few good things about it--powerful and talented cast, a few really good and terrifying scares and some of the sound effects were good but everything else just drowns Hide And Seek into the trashcan. Hide And Seek is worth nothing more than a piece of trash that belongs in the damn trashcan!

Hide And Seek Info:
Genre: Thriller
Running time: 101 minutes
Year Of Movie: 2005
Rating: R for Frightening Sequences And Violence

Reviews:

ALMOST a good movie. Of course, that close call with competence is averted with an ending that gets worse and worse as it drags on and on
--Willie Waffle, WAFFLEMOVIES.COM

The movie wants in the worst way to be among the new wave of big-screen chillers, served with a twist. As the old joke goes, they've succeeded -- in the worst way.
--Gene Seymour, NEWSDAY

An ordinary, mildly suspenseful, eventually preposterous thriller that warrants no more attention or thought than the time it takes to watch it, if that.
--Eric D. Snider, ERICDSNIDER.COM

There is also a plot twist that comes about two-thirds in, which is supposed to be shocking, but is actually one of the least-surprising, least-scary 'surprises' in recent memory. It may provoke more laughter than chills.
--Jeff Vice, DESERET NEWS, SALT LAKE CITY

I jumped twice in Hide and Seek, but John Polson s new thriller has only a good, but painfully wasted cast to recommend it.
Urban Cinefile Critics, URBAN CINEFILE

The movie's twist didn't become obvious until a few minutes before the climax. Maybe that's because it is so unpalatable and heartless that it hardly seems feasible.
--Mary F. Pols, CONTRA COSTA TIMES