Stars: Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Irving, Dylan Baker, Melissa Leo, Robert John Burke, David Chandler, Stewart Summers, Jack Dylan Baumer

Director: John Polson

Summary: Together with his young daughter Emily, David Callaway moves to the country after the apparent suicide of his wife. Coping with her mother's death, Emily initially finds solace in Charlie, an imaginary friend, but her relationship with 'him' soon turns into something more sinister...

Dakota Fanning and Robert De Niro slug it out for top acting honours in this creepy psychodrama. After his wife is found dead in the bathtub, Manhattan psychologist David Callaway (De Niro) decides to take his traumatised child, Emily (Fanning), to live in a big, gloomy country house upstate. The shadow of the twisty backyard woods--or something darker--soon creeps over the house and Emily finds a weird friend named Charlie, who her father believes is only imaginary. Charlie likes to play games, and is also very jealous of anyone who tries to come between Emily and her dad, like an attractive local divorcee (Elizabeth Shue) and Emily's New York psychiatrist (Famke Jannsen). Director John Polson takes his time letting the little details of the story accrue in the patently sombre tradition of directors like M. Night Shyamalan. John Ottman's score is spooky, the photography is drenched in warm colours, and the mood is relentlessly strange and unsettling. De Niro is fine as a wheezing, ageing doctor who can't seem to fathom the extent to which his domestic situation has moved past his control. Of course there's a shocking twist or two, plenty of jolts, red herrings, and sinister woodland explorations (including a dark and foreboding cave), but the spookiest ingredient in this potboiler is the brilliant Fanning. With her jet black hair, pale skin, and wide blue eyes, she enters the realm of instant horror iconhood as the alternately frightened and frightening Emily. Other cast members include Dylan Baker as the local sheriff, and Amy Irving, excellent in her few scenes as Emily's mother.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Dakota Fanning--the elfin star of Uptown Girls, The Cat in the Hat, and Man on Fire--trades in her blond locks for a semi-gothic brunette do in Hide and Seek. Fanning plays Emily, a young girl whose mother commits suicide. To help Emily through the trauma, her father David (Robert DeNiro), a psychologist, takes her to an isolated house in upstate New York. But instead of healing, Emily gets dark circles under her eyes, mutilates her favorite doll, and develops an imaginary friend named Charlie. In no time at all, things get spooky and David suspects this imaginary friend isn't so friendly. Hide and Seek owes a lot to The Shining, but whether the creepiness is borrowed or not, there's a decent dose of it (though the twist at the end is unlikely to surprise many viewers). DeNiro does his job with professional gloss, but Fanning carries the movie; she's got the kind of charisma that goes beyond acting ability--that ineffable glow that makes an audience want to watch her. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary By The Director John Polson The Screenwriter Ari Schlossberg And The Editor Jeffrey Ford, 4 Alternate Endings, 14 Deleted Scenes With Optional Director Screenwriter And Editor Commentary, Making Of Featurette, 3 Pre Vis Sequences
Year:	2005
Release Date:	July 25, 2005
Runtime:	97 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	2736001000
Keywords:	General, Hide, Thriller, Seek
Genre:	Thriller