Hide and Go Shriek (1988)

Director:

Skip Schoolnik

Writer:

Michael Kelly (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Close your eyes. Count to 10. And run for your life.

Plot:

A group of teenagers spends the night in a furniture store for a graduation party. A psycho killer starts to hunt them down and kill them off.

Plot Keywords:

Teen | Furniture Store | Hide And Seek | Murder | Splatter

Cast

Bunky Jones	...	Bonnie Williams
Brittain Frye	...	Randy Flint
Annette Sinclair	...	Kim Downs
George Thomas	...	David Hanson
Donna Baltron	...	Judy Ramteize
Scott Fults	...	Shawn Phillips
Ria Pavia	...	Malissa Morgan
Sean Kanan	...	John Robbins
Scott Kubay	...	Zack
Jeff Levine	...	Fred
Michael Kelly	...	Wino
Ron Colby	...	Phil Robins (as Ronald Colby)
Donald Mark Spencer	...	Vince
James Serrano	...	Cops in Car
Larry Lyons	...	Cops in Car

Also Known As:

Close Your Eyes and Pray (UK) (video title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:18 | USA:Unrated (uncut video version) | USA:R | Australia:R

Goofs:

Continuity: When one of the girls trips over a dead body, between three shots, John's dead body on the floor changes the way is it lying.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Zack: THE FUN IS OVER
Female Survivor: [sees Zack racing towards her] He's coming back

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Matinee (1989) (TV)

No peeking.

Ready or not. Here I come. Should you turn a blind eye, and pass this one as if you didn't notice it. Well, I didn't mind it, so why not take a chance. It's a passable, unassuming late low-cost 80s teen slasher of the same-old cheesy hijinks. Boozing, sex, party games (hide and seek on this occasion), topless nudity and a killer on the loose. You get the picture. It's got everything down-pat. The story sets the situation one night in a furniture store that one of the teen's fathers owns after the complex has shut for business. Unknowingly to them their playful attitude turns to survival when they realise they're being preyed upon in the locked-up building by a (well-dressed) killer that likes to wear the clothing of his victims (and doesn't like people who don't have a shopping agenda). Even with its slack pacing (plenty of aimless clock-punching to open), puerile script, dim lighting (which could create few eerie moods) and cheap FX. It manages to build up an ominous atmosphere (thanks to a brooding rock score and murkily vast setting) and install a real nasty side (some vicious and creative attacks caught by the leering camera) that all but evaporates in its spontaneously fruity climax and sudden conclusion. It's beyond silly and insipid! That'll hold up in court. Every now and again the director (quite clunky, flat and rough handling) tries to make you jump, but with less than flattering results. The performances from the young cast are hysterically over-dramatic, but do entertain with their boneheaded characters. They're not entirely likable though. Rancid, but mildly enjoyable slasher clone.