Hider in the House

A great psychological thriller, hider in the house exemplifies childhood trauma and its effect on a a man's life. Tom Sykes (Gary Busey) undergoes the transformation from child to head of the household of Mimi Rogers's family. Mimi Rogers sexes up the role of a woman going through marital problems. Michael McKean (best known for his character Gibby from dream on) plays an arrogant adulterer who gets a good beating from the buse. This movie was worth the three dollars for its rental, just to see Gary Busey beat a man to death with a flash-light. Another quality film from the man with horse teeth.

Forget the inanity (no thats NOT a typo!) of the plot...a fruitloop living soundlessly in an attic, in a tiny room he built there - EQUALLY soundlessly!......this is a tour-de-force performance from Busey. The most realistic nutter put on screen since Norman Bates! As someone commented, a similar premise to THE STEPFATHER, being the story of a lone weirdo psychotically disposed towards creating the "perfect" family!

Busey's deranged Tom Sykes, complete with nervous dysfunctionality is awesome. There are several scenes you feel for the guy and really ache for his solitude and inherent decency! I believe it was his best role and despite the fact the wheels tended to fall off towards the end, as it entered the standard formula "where-do-we-go-from-here" scriptwriters' block, ENOUGH professional work had been witnessed to term this a way better than average thriller! Mimi Rogers always has dignity, class and resolve (well OK she struck-out marrying Tom Cruise arguably) Here, she puts across a sympathetic woman who finds herself in a seriously unwanted position through no fault of her own.

Ultimately you'd have to wonder, if despite his mental disturbances, Sykes wouldn't have made a better husband than Phil (McKean) who proves himself the wimpiest womaniser on the block! I was rooting for Busy to take him out big-time!

Flawed thriller that should by rights, be rating 6.8 here!

Gary Busey is superb in this role as a misunderstood and lonely man who lost his family and feels the need to " inherit" someone elses . His little evil giggles whilst he is hiding in the attic will crack you up. He's as Nutty as a fruitcake and makes the movie all the more fun, even though, its actually a thriller. His Character is believable and you actually feel sorry for him. Busey fans as well as fans of Mimi Rogers will not be disappointed. Mimi is great to look at ( I mean , wouldn't take a fancy to her) Gary just oozes an evil, but sensitive quality in this film . The ending is climactic too , once the plot is revealed and you'll be hard pushed not to grip the arms of your sofa !

I will agree that the premise of this movie - a man secretly hiding in a house without anyone detecting him - is a bit hard to swallow. But I found this movie strangely compelling. One reason is that the "bad guy" isn't without sympathy. We see that he is still insane, but that's no fault of his, and that he struggles very hard not to do anything bad. (Busey gives a great performance, by the way.) Some events in the movie, like when he starts to introduce himself incognito to the family, are unexpected and intriguing.

However, starting about 20 minutes before the end, we see the movie start to fall apart, and the climax is way too familiar and expected - it's almost like the screenwriter refused to change from a typical cop-out ending.

Otherwise, not bad.

Well it's a well-off middle class family with a sleazy Dad, oh and Gary Busey in the attic. Not something that would give you a good nights sleep. I liked this movie. It has enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat and Busey is great. I would have liked to have seen more of the creepy neighbour as his similar looks to Busey could have caused some confusion for the family and police.