Hide and Seek (2005)

Hide and Seek is an amazing film that questions the safety and sanctity of family. It follows David Calloway, played by Robert De Niro, and his daughter Emily, Dakota Fanning, who move suddenly after wife and mother Alison, played by Amy Irving, commits suicide. Once they move strange things begin to happen that revolve around Emily. For example, David wakes up at the same time each night, the time his wife died. He found his wife in the bathtub at this time, so every night he wakes up, he goes to the bathroom. Since moving, every time he goes to bathroom at this time, there is writing on the wall in blood and something in the bathtub, like, at one point, a dead cat. He always asks Emily who did it and she always replies, "Charlie". However, no one knows who Charlie is. In the end, we find out that David is Charlie and that David has a multiple personality disorder. The cast of this move is phenomenal. For being so young, Fanning does a phenomenal job at portraying this girl who is so lost and confused. She has no idea what to do because her dad is two different people. She does a great job at showing the stress this puts her under. De Niro also has a stunning performance. Waking up night after night to horrific scenes in the bathroom must be terrifying and De Niro does a perfect job at exemplifying that.The editing in this movie makes it obvious to the watcher that De Niro is Charlie if you re-watch the film. In one scene, David puts a tea kettle on the stove and walks away from it. He goes to his office when he hears Emily yell. He walks back into the kitchen and his tea kettle is overflowing and boiling over. David had only put the tea kettle down a few seconds before. He goes up to Emily's room and asks why she yelled. She replies with, "Charlie just left". After re-watching the film, you realize the tea kettle boils over so quickly because David is Charlie. David has no recollection of when he becomes Charlie. This movie is incredibly creepy and dark. It's a favorite of mine because it truly confuses you and makes you think. However, the premise of the movie is a bit of a stretch. It seems strange to think David could commit these terrible acts and not leave any clues behind that it's him. At the end, David realizes he is Charlie and then turns into Charlie. Suddenly, every aspect of David that he had is gone and doesn't come back.Hide and Seek is an incredibly well edited film that offers an original, thought-provoking plot. The editing in this film is phenomenal and adds so much to the story. The performances by the two main characters really makes this story believable. However, the plot itself is a little hard to believe. The plot is supposed to be believable. Instead of a dark, creepy story, sometimes, because of the plot, it becomes comedic.

Horror and Extreme Horror Violence (read splatter) Fans were Universally Outraged, or at the Least Disappointed in this Psychological Picture with an All Star Cast and a Promising Premise. It is a Deliberately Paced (read pay attention) Movie that seems Better after its Over and the Events are Replayed in the Mind, then it was upon First Viewing.Dakota Fanning, Continuing Her "wise beyond years" Career as a Pre-Teen Haunted by the Suicidal Death of Her Mother as She is Intrusted with Her Father Played by Robert De Niro Playing a Psychologist.Things do Add Up Eventually and it is Tension with a Capital T as Things Unfold Creepily and it is Dakota's Acting that Keeps all the Other Actors on Their Toes and Really does Steal the Show. That is a Fear that Most Adult Actors, somewhat unfounded, have in Working with Children. But here the Myth is Manifested.Slightly Above Average and is Worth a Watch for the Child Star and De Niro's Against Type Attempt at Something Different.

After watching thousand of horror movies out there, I imagined this one wouldn't be able to bring something completely new with such subject-- dude, I was right. Jokes apart, I can say "Hide and Seek" surprised me. While watching this film you will surely remember of other horror pictures, from "Rosemary's Baby" to "What Lies Beaneath". From the get go there are many possibilities of how the ending will be. I started watching this and told my friend from work what she thought about this picture; she said the outcome wouldn't be "anything I could expect". However, considering the other thousand horror movies out there, it turned out to be something that can be guessed, even thought wasn't that common back in 2005. Atmosphere is tense and creepy, actors do their job, and we have some jumpy moments to bring some frightening. In the end, the outcome looks much like "Identity"'s, but never disappoints the spectator. Good movie anyways.

In a normal family of New York City, David Callaway (Robert De Niro) is a psychologist who has to face the mysterious suicide of his wife. Unfortunately this tragic incident is causing a big trauma to his little daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning). David decides to move to the countryside to to give all the support and make her to forget what happened, but things became even worse and very weird. In the new house Emily's imaginary friend named 'Charlie' takes control over her behavior. Somebody wants to play hide and seek but neither David nor little Emily seems to enjoy this apparently innocent but dangerous game. The most scary movies are the ones where a child plays a significant role, Dakota Fanning is quiet scary. An unusual performance of Robert De Niro not the best of his famous career.