O Esconderijo

HIDEAWAY opens with a double murder committed by a young, leering man named Jeremy (Jeremy Sisto), who immediately commits suicide in an occult / ritualistic fashion. We get to see Jeremy's apparent, cartoon afterlife, and it's not pretty!

The scene switches to the Harrison family- Hatch (Jeff Goldblum), Lindsey (Christine Lahti), and daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone). Heading home after a vacation, they are involved in a terrible accident. Lindsey and Regina suffer minor injuries, but Hatch is critically wounded.

Brought back from death by Dr. Jonas (Alfred Molina), Hatch starts having nightmares about a series of murders. Not a believer in the supernatural, he looks for a logical explanation, especially when one of his dreams comes true! Things get even weirder from this point, with more murders and spooky goings on.

Goldblum spends the remainder of the movie running around wild-eyed, while Ms. Lahti weeps and screams a lot. As usual, Ms. Silverstone spends most of her screen time being pouty, but she's not in it much. As for Sisto, he tries hard to be eeevil, but can't quite shake his mop-headed, male model persona. Not even in sunglasses!

HIDEAWAY is barrels of fun to watch. Although the CGI sequences are less than spectacular, they were probably "state of the art" for a film such as this back in 1995...

I thought the movie was good. A little confusing but good. I personally thought Jeremy's character was great. Jeremy Sisto was the best actor out of the whole movie because he was so into it. I recommend people seeing it who are interested in what happens if you kill yourself or satanic worship. The special effects are good for that time but compared to now it looks funny. Please go rent it and see for yourself! ~*~Cassandra~*~

It's true, Hideaway was absolutely slaughtered on release and is still systematically torn apart in the listings every time it's on TV, but - hey! - it's not that bad. Jeff Goldblum is always, er, 'interesting' to watch, and the same goes for Brett Leonard films (try as he might to cripple them with whatever bottom-of-the-barrel SFX company he keeps hiring - the effects here are practically carbon copies of those in The Lawnmower Man, and seeing as they're supposed to represent ethereal spiritual journeys rather than clunky virtual reality environments, it doesn't exactly work wonders). So yeah, for what it was, I enjoyed it. But of course I haven't read the book, so I don't have any outraged fanboy zeal to contend with...

Jeff...Goldblum...speaks like..this...in much of his movies which is as fascinating as it is irritating. Jeff's quirky speech patterns have been the saviour of many a dull movie over the years - here, it almost takes second place to Brett Leonard's jaw dropping visual effects. By now, you know the story. Hatch (Goldblum) brought back from the dead by nice doctor Alfred Molina; except he has brought back a part of a creepy serial killer. Both men can see each other's visions and can feel one another's pain. Naturally, both are drawn toward an inexorable conclusion. An okay script, partly by Andrew Kevin Walker of Se7en fame and solid direction by Leonard make this a stylish diversion that should keep first time viewers hooked to the end. Good photography by Gale Tattersall and the Trevor Jones soundtrack punctuates all the right, familiar scenes with bags of style. Not as bad as Neil Jordan's similar offering, In Dreams, but a rather obvious thriller which offers few revelations.

Call me the ultimate anarch, but I'm inclined to disagree with the slatings this movie has received. Maybe I was watching a different film, but I pretty much enjoyed Hideaway. Okay, maybe the scripting wasn't pure Shakespeare, maybe the plot was a little tenuous, or a little unoriginal, but still, a little credit where it's due please.

I admit, I was expecting from the write-up a second rate TV movie, but ended up with a deranged grin plastered across my face. I particularly enjoyed the film's 'darkness', and hellishly black soundtrack that only added to the effect. Personally, I'm surprised that Jeremy Sisto has yet to be mentioned in the reviews, because I believe his chilling performance as Vasago was one of the shining factors in this movie. What with his penetrating stare and spooky, well-spoken accent he made, to me, the perfect killer. A round of applause for the young man, if you please.

Personally, I see Hideaway as a movie that should be a big hit with the gothic community, and I shall stand by my word regardless...