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.

Release Year: 2005

Rating: 5.7/10 (40,301 voted)

Critic's Score: 35/100

Director: John Polson

Stars: Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen

Storyline
Hide and Seek revolves around a widower and his daughter. They move to upstate and Emily soon creates an imaginary friend named Charlie... but this act takes an unexpected and terrifying turn, where her father and doctor start to worry about Emily's gruesome habits.

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
Jake Dylan Baumer - Disturbed Boy

Taglines: Come out come out whatever you are

Release Date: 28 January 2005

Filming Locations: 257 Central Park West, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $21,959,233 (USA) (30 January 2005) (3005 Screens)

Gross: $122,650,962 (Worldwide)

Runtime: 101 min

Trivia:
For the first time in 70 years, 20th Century Fox shipped prints of Hide and Seek, without the final reel, which would be shipped separately. This was done as a security measure as so people wouldn't be able to reveal the final ending. To further ensure the safety of protecting the film's ending, security guards would hand-deliver the reel to theaters showing the film. Fox had individually numbered each reel as well as a final security measure. Fox executive VP and sales manager Richard Myerson stated it was "to ensure everyone's enjoyment of the film and to prevent 'spoilers', we've instituted extraordinary measures. We think it's worth the effort."

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.

A classic underachiever.

Rating:

Maybe Robert De Niro's doctor in Godsend (2004) went to the same medical school of horrors as his Dr. David Callaway in Hide and Seek, this year's De Niro toss away film, from which he deposits his considerable paycheck along with cash from Meet the Fockers. Why he doesn't concentrate his fortune and connections (as Clint Eastwood does) to craft an artful small film that would allow his acting gifts is the only mystery for me from his prolific but arguably spotty career.

Young Emily Callaway (Dakota Fanning) has lost her mother (Amy Irving) to suicide. Psychologist dad moves her to an older, rambling house in the woods in upstate New York to start a new life. Not new are the abundant clichés of the horror film: the suspicious neighbors, whom director John Polson makes as creepy as possible; the questionable sheriff; the doors leading to scares; the mutilated dolls; Emily's imaginary friend, Charlie, who appears to be causing numberless offenses in the house; and knives placed as objects of intrinsic interest; and a vulnerable girl friend, Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue). I stopped counting, for the film is one extended cliché after another.

The interest for serious filmgoers might be the depiction of the psychological stat after a loss to suicide. Whatever the term might be such as "post-traumatic stress disorder syndrome," the film does a credible job showing how difficult it is for Emily to lead a normal life after the loss of her mother (and for her father as well). While there are echoes of Stephen King (The Shining's "Here's Johnny" comes to mind) and Hitchcock (think shower scene), there is no comparison in quality with those classics. The audience at the preview enjoyed some of the stock shock moments behind the many closed doors. Hide and Seek will titillate horror fans but disappoint discerning film buffs, who look for some believable edge and innovation.

Milton in Paradise Lost expressed the descent from happiness to despair: "Farewell happy fields, Where joy forever dwells: hail, horrors!" Hide and Seek is not a classic horror film; it is a classic underachiever.

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