Stars: Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, Amy Irving, Dylan Baker, Melissa Leo, Robert John Burke

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.

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Aspect Ratio:	2.40 Anamorphic 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:	2736002000
Keywords:	General, Hide, Thriller, Seek
Genre:	Thriller