Hide and Seek (2005)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

John Polson

Writer (WGA):

Ari Schlossberg (written by)

Release Date:

28 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Come out come out whatever you are

Plot:

As a widower tries to piece together his life in the wake of his wife's suicide, his daughter finds solace -- at first -- in her imaginary friend.

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Widower | Imaginary Friend | Suicide | Small Town

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	David Callaway
Dakota Fanning	...	Emily Callaway
Famke Janssen	...	Katherine
Elisabeth Shue	...	Elizabeth
Amy Irving	...	Alison Callaway
Dylan Baker	...	Sheriff Hafferty
Melissa Leo	...	Laura
Robert John Burke	...	Steven
Molly Grant Kallins	...	Amy
David Chandler	...	Mr. Haskins
Stewart Summers	...	Doctor
Jake Dylan Baumer	...	Disturbed Boy

MPAA:

Rated R for frightening sequences and violence.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15 | USA:R | Ireland:18 (DVD/VHS release)

Filming Locations:

Haworth, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Famke Janssen said she wouldn't have done this movie had Robert De Niro not been attached

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Emily is laying on her bedroom floor, she draws a picture of her and Charlie at the window, but she draws herself with blonde hair, the actress's natural hair color.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alison: Faster.
Emily: No, no, no.

Movie Connections:

Features Humpty Dumpty (1935)

Soundtrack:

Hush Little Baby

Top Notch Acting In A Good Suspense-Mystery.

"Hide and Seek" is one of the best horror films I've seen in awhile. It is about a psychologist, David Callaway (Robert DeNiro) whose wife commits suicide, and he decides to move to upstate New York with his daughter, Emily (Dakota Fanning), whose personality has severely changed after her mother's death. A family friend/psychologist/co-worker of David, Katherine (Famke Janssen) disagrees with David's decision to move, and thinks that Emily should stay where she is. Then after David and Emily move into their new house, David meets Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue), who becomes a friend to David and Emily. Then strange things begin to happen - Emily discovers a new imaginary friend, Charlie. And then people start to die.

Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning are both brilliant, their performances were extremely real and convincing. Dakota is quite talented for her age, and DeNiro gives another great performance like he always does. Famke Janssen ("Don't Say A Word" and "House on Haunted Hill") also does great, and Elisabeth Shue ("The Karate Kid") is also very good. In fact, the whole cast was great. The whole film was really suspenseful, and it tricks you a lot. The atmosphere was heavy, I loved the whole feeling of the secluded upstate New York small-town, and the large house David and Emily move into.

I liked this movie because it was more psychological rather than chop and slash gore that most horror films use to scare people. "Hide and Seek" has a good, solid story behind it, which is why it is such a good horror film, and the acting is top notch on top of it all. I don't understand everyone's problem with this movie, it was actually quite good. Sure, the ending is a little cliché, but the rest of the movie was good enough on it's own. 8/10.