Hideaway (film)

Hideaway

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Brett Leonard
Produced by Jerry A. Baerwitz
Agatha Dominik
Gimel Everett
Agatha Hanczakowski
Screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker
Neal Jimenez
Based on Hideaway 
by Dean Koontz
Starring Jeff Goldblum
Christine Lahti
Alicia Silverstone
Alfred Molina
Jeremy Sisto
Rae Dawn Chong
Music by Trevor Jones
Cinematography Gale Tattersall
Edited by B.J. Sears
Production
company
Release dates
  • March 3, 1995 (United States)
Running time
 106 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million (estimated)[1]
Box office $12,201,255[2]

Hideaway is a 1995 American horror film directed by Brett Leonard. It is based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, and stars Jeff Goldblum, Alicia Silverstone, Christine Lahti, and Jeremy Sisto. In the film, Goldblum plays a man who dies in a car accident, only to be revived two hours later. After being revived, he experiences frightening visions. He begins to understand that he has become psychically connected to a serial killer, and that by cutting himself, he can actually induce the visions and see through the killer's eyes. Unfortunately, the vision works both ways, and the killer can also see through his eyes. Birmingham band Godflesh make a cameo appearance during one of the film's scenes.

Plot

After killing his mother and sister and ritualistically arranging their bodies as a sacrifice to Satan, Devil worshipper "Vassago" (Sisto) invokes a Satanic verse in a room filled with candles and Satanic imagery. He then commits suicide by throwing himself onto an athame in order to damn his soul.

Hatch Harrison (Goldblum) is on a drive with his family. Harrison gets into a car accident and is pronounced dead, only to be revived two hours later by specialist Dr. Jonas Nyebern (Molina). His wife Lindsay (Lahti), and daughter Regina (Silverstone), were also involved in the car accident but escaped without serious injuries.

After the accident and subsequent revival, Harrison begins to experience mysterious visions. These involve him seeing murders through the eyes of a killer. Harrison realizes that the murders are actually happening when the women he sees being murdered are announced as missing in news reports. The character Harrison sees committing the murders is later shown to be the same character who committed suicide in the opening sequence. The character, who is identified as Vassago, talks to Harrison's daughter at a night club, which Harrison sees in his visions.

Harrison attempts to stop Vassago from murdering only to be told that he is experiencing mental problems by his family, his psychiatrist, and the police. Harrison visits a psychic (Chong) who confirms his beliefs and tells him that Vassago is also having visions in which he can see through Harrison's eyes. It is then revealed that Vassago, whose real name is Jeremy Nyebern, is the son of Dr. Nyebern and who had killed his mother and sister. After his suicide (shown in the opening sequence), he had also been revived from the dead by his father.

Vassago then kidnaps Regina, taking her to an abandoned amusement park where he kills his father after being confronted by him. As Harrison and his wife find them, the souls of Vassago and Harrison collide in battle. Harrison, revealing himself to Vassago as "Uriel," Vassago's antithesis, is the victor, killing Vassago, saving Regina, and with his family safe, exits the park with his family.

The final scene after the credits shows Hatch dreaming about Vassago being pulled in to be revived again. The operation becomes a success but only before Vassago wakes up, takes a scalpel, and slits a nurse's throat. He wakes up, seeing he was only dreaming. He then hugs Lindsay and falls back to sleep.

Cast

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 11 out of the 13 reviews they tallied were negative for a score of 15% and a certification of "rotten".[3] Roger Ebert, one of the few critics who liked the film, characterized it as a standard fare horror film that accomplishes its modest goals.[4] Ebert summarized his review by saying, "Look, I'm not saying this is a great movie, or even a distinguished one. I'm saying: You want horror, you want psychic abandon, you want Rae Dawn Chong reading Jeff Goldblum's Tarot cards and not liking what she sees, you see this movie, you get your money's worth."[4] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a poor review, but stated that Goldblum's performance "makes a tedious film intermittently tolerable."[5] Film critic/historian Leonard Maltin was even less kind; he cited the movie as a "bomb" and added, "This goes nowhere for nearly two interminable hours."

Koontz was reportedly unsatisfied with the film. According to Washington Post's Rita Kempley, "Koontz hates the movie so much he tried to force TriStar to remove his name from the credits."[6] In addition, according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Walter Addiego, Koontz was so dissatisfied with Hideaway that he would only allow a film adaptation of his novel Phantoms to be made if he was allowed to approve the final version of the film.[7]

On his own website, Koontz states that he used legal means to get his name removed from the title of the film and from major advertising, but was unable to get his name removed from the credits. He also writes that he sent several letters to the Japanese CEO of the parent company of Universal/MCA, which had the rights to the film, requesting that his name be removed.[8]

Box office

Hideaway made $12,201,255 in the US box office.[2]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113303/business
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Hideaway – Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Hideaway". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ebert, Roger (March 3, 1995). "Hideaway". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  5. ↑ LaSalle, Mick (September 1, 1995). "Film review – Goldblum hidden away in predictable movie". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  6. ↑ Kempley, Rita (March 4, 1995). "Hideaway". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  7. ↑ Addiego,, Walter (January 28, 1998). "How it was made more interesting than the film Author Koontz got his say on Phantoms". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Hideaway – From the author". Dean Koontz official website. Retrieved April 17, 2011.

External links