User reviews

I haven't read Dean Koontz's novel, but most of this movie's faults can be traced back to predictable and simplistic script, which bears a strong resemblance to "The Eyes Of Laura Mars". Otherwise, this is an entertaining horror thriller, with trippy "tunnel vision" (literally) sequences, flashes of dark humor and the usual good performance by Jeff Goldblum. The "good vs. evil" climax does come off a bit cheesy, but that doesn't happen because the effects are not good; it happens because of the way in which they are employed. (**1/2)

A well-to-do couple in the Seattle area (Jeff Goldblum & Christine Lahti) is struggling with grief and the challenges of parenting a beautiful teenager (Alicia Silverstone). When the man seems to die in an accident he is resuscitated by a revolutionary doctor (Alfred Molina). Yet coming back from the afterlife has a peculiar effect as he starts to have visions of a local serial killer (Jeremy Sisto).

"Hideaway" (1995) is a psychological crime thriller with mystery/horror elements based on Dean R. Koontz' 1992 novel. Dean hated the end results and wanted his name removed from the credits, but the gist of his story is intact (I guess the devil is in the details, as they say). True, the movie changes Regina from a cool orphan into a typical spoiled teenager and omits elaboration on how Vassago (Sisto) becomes what he is, but so what? You can only fit so much of a book into 1 hour and 45 minutes; besides, enough detail is there if you read in between the lines.

The movie reminds me of a meshing of the future "Kiss the Girls" (1997) and "Bless the Child" (2000). It shares the tone and general locations of "Disturbing Behavior" (1998) with the story being influenced by flicks like "Body Parts" (1991) and "Eyes of Laura Mars" (1978). Obviously if you favor these kinds of flicks you'll probably like this one despite complaints by Koontz and fans of the book.

The storytelling is a little confusing in certain ways (for instance, if the killer dies in the opening sequence, how can he be alive & murdering people?). Yet everything is explained by the last act. Meanwhile the colorful CGI depicting the afterlife is quaint (being done in 1994) and reminiscent of the dubious effects in "Bless the Child," but that's okay because the afterlife should appear amorphous anyway.

Silverstone was about 18 during shooting and quite fetching, but she's not the focus; Goldblum and Sisto are. Speaking of Sisto, he looks & acts like Jim Morrison would if he was a psycho serial murderer. Meanwhile Lahti was 44 at the time and looks great.

The ending at the titular hideaway (in a defunct amusement park) is thoroughly comic booky, but the flick has effective atmosphere and delivers the goods if you can roll with it rather than against it.

The film was shot in Britannia Beach, British Columbia, which is 20 miles north of Vancouver. Vassago's hideaway was constructed in the abandoned Britannia Mine.

GRADE: B-/C+

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...

Yes, Jurassic Park used computer generated images very well. However, they had a big budget and were able to make those dinosaurs look very realistic. This one ended up making very bad images of hell and of weird crap that looked as if it were not there. Jeff Goldblum was in both, coincidence? Yes, but still he was in one of the best examples of early computer images and one of the worst. What makes it more terrible is that a lot of horror movies began doing it, and to this day the monsters in these movies still look like they are not there. So the story in this one has two guys dying and being revived by similar means. One a family guy with a daughter, the other guy...well lets just say he is not so good. The guy who is not so good has a secret about his death, he is also a killer. The other guy (Goldblum) seems to have a link to this killer because of the way they were both revived. Near the end the killer targets the teen daughter and the father must try to pry her from this seemingly evil guy's clutches. Just did not really work for me, and apparently not to Dean Koontz either as I hear he did not like this movie at all. It has a somewhat good cast for a horror movie as along with Goldblum you have Alicia Silverstone and Alfred Molino, but one just can not get the lame effects out of one's head.

You sit down in a cozy diner. It's familiar, like you've been to a thousand diners like that one before. Maybe you've been to them once a week, if you're into diners. And maybe when you go, they don't let you in because that particular diner — for whatever reason — only admits customers 17 years of age or older. I don't know.

You order the "Hideaway" omelet, which you think will be good because the menu assures you that the ingredients come from an organic farm. The Dean R. Koontz Organic Farm, let's call it.

The waiter comes out with your omelet and, lo and behold, your waiter is Jeff Goldblum!

Goldblum says, "Here's your... ah... omelet, sir... or... or madam — I'm not sure of the... ah... exact... gender of the person I am speaking to," and then he puts the plate down in front of you.

And it's just awful. Everything is lousy. Nothing works. Nothing is memorable. It looks like any ordinary omelet, except the ingredients all look fake and taste even worse. The bacon, which the menu brags is added in to make the omelet look cool, looks like it was made in the '90s, a decade notorious for its fake-looking bacon. To make matters worse, the whole thing reeks of cheese. It's all so cheesy.

And though the ingredients are normal, everyday omelet ingredients — mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes, onions — they come together in an odd and confusing way. Not only that, but you also taste chocolate and apples and the faintest whiff of shrimp, even though none of these things fit in with your omelet. Plus, the more you eat the omelet, the messier it becomes. It isn't long before the undercooked eggs are splayed out all over your plate, and you consider leaving the diner right at that minute, but you remember that you're paying about $6 in 1995 money for this omelet. You can't just get up and leave it. Plus, you owe it to Jeff Goldblum to listen to what he has to say, even though he's talking about how he lost his daughter in a car accident and you don't even remember how he got on that subject to begin with.

In fact, the only thing that makes the experience worthwhile is Jeff Goldblum, who just rambles to you the entire time you're eating that garbage omelet. He's holding a shotgun, too, for some reason. That's cool, you think to yourself. Jeff Goldblum looks like a badass when he's holding a shotgun.

And when you've finished eating the omelet, Jeff Goldblum thanks you for your time and takes the plate back to the kitchen. You never see him again, but you decide that, in two weeks, when you've forgotten that you've ever eaten the "Hideaway" omelet, with its synthetic ingredients, confusing recipe, messy eggs and overwhelming cheesiness, you'll remember who it was that gave it to you: Jeff Goldblum.

So maybe you'll be back to that diner to eat another meal with him, but you know one thing for sure: You're never going to order that goddamned omelet again.

I rented "Hideaway" solely because Jeremy Sisto was in it, and I have to say I was only somewhat disappointed. The movie's weakest points, and they are WEAK, are the completely gratuitous, TV-show quality special effects. I have never seen effects that were as utterly ridiculous to end a movie with.This is the sort of movie that reminded me,"Oh, yeah,THIS is why I hate special effects." However, aside from the mind-blowingly bad effects and the predictable plot, there is one very, diamond-bright spot in the movie, and that is Jeremy Sisto as the killer Vassago. Spookily sexy in trenchcoat and leather, he resembles a seriously psychotic "Lost Boy". Projecting an enchantingly evil sensuality, he is magnetic in his too-few scenes of dialogue. Truth to tell, if Vassago had cast the spell of his eyes and voice on me, I would have gone with him to a terrible fate. I found enjoyable also the heavy, death-metal soundtrack. (Although I am beginning to tire of the stereotype that killers in movies always listen to metal. What about all the drive-by shooters who listen to rap? But I digress) To sum up, unless you're a big Sisto fan I wouldn't bother. But if you are, Bon Appetit!

I had no fore-knowledge of this movie and thus every element was a thrilling surprise. The story-line was a very clever one and had a true sting at the end. The cast were actors of high calibre who gave impressive performances. A pulsing sound-track and impressive special effects, made this a movie that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I recently watched Hideaway (1995) on Tubi. The story centers on a father who miraculously survives a car accident only to discover he has gained strange psychic powers. Determined to seek justice against his killer, he grapples with disbelief from his family who thinks he has lost his mind.

Directed by Brett Leonard (The Lawnmower Man), the film features a star-studded cast including Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park), Alicia Silverstone (Clueless), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Jeremy Sisto (Wrong Turn), and Rae Dawn Chong (Commando).

Unfortunately, Hideaway feels like a poor imitation of The Lawnmower Man, lacking its predecessor's quality. Despite the talented cast, the father-daughter dynamics feel forced at times, and the dated CGI fails to impress, making certain scenes painful to watch. The conclusion is predictable and uninspired.

In conclusion, Hideaway disappoints as a science fiction/horror film, squandering the potential of its solid 90s cast. I would rate it a 3.5-4/10 and suggest skipping it.

I've always loved this movie since I first saw it with my friends in theaters back in 95. I thought it was such a unique, original idea executed with solid performances and inspired visuals as well as s kick ass score and soundtrack. The movie tells the story of a sexy ass Jeff Goldblum as Hatch a man who dies in a car accident and is resurrected by an experimental procedure. A few days after awakening he begins to horrific visions of murders through the eyes of a disturbingly sexy Jeremy Sisto. He tries to solve the crimes blaming his self along the way and becomes even more intent when the killer targets his daughter it girl at the time Alicia Silverstone. Christine Lahti also stars as her mother and she is one tough bad ass. The movie is do fun and imaginative I'm surprised it never really took off.

Budget: $15M Box Office: $12.2M

So, Jeff Goldbloom has a car crash and is dead for almost two hours before being brought back to life by an experimental procedure that's never explained. You'd think the inventor of such a procedure would be buying Bentleys for his dogs, right? Anyway, the phenomenon that starts it all is actually not unique. Hundreds of people who have had Near-Death-Experiences (NDE) claim to have seen tunnels of light and stuff, and often describe things they couldn't have seen (they're dead, remember?). Bloom's case is a little more special because he comes back with a psychic connection to a serial killer.

The problem is, I've already told you the most interesting part of the movie and I didn't even use a spoiler. Bloom's wife and daughter are so annoying that I would've understood if he just stayed dead. Alicia Silverstone plays the daughter, and tries too hard to portray a rebellious teen, but manages to only come across as a sulking, whining b**ch. The wife just stands around and constantly yells at her husband for seeing things. The "special effects" are so stupid and bad even 40's silent movies could do better.

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...

I just watched this on video. Looking at the video box, I remembered looking at the video box before, but I didn't remember seeing it before. I remember seeing it before now, though. Not a good sign. I can honestly, then, say this movie is forgettable.

It starts with a young man in a house, with two women who appear to be praying silently. He goes up into a small room in which he has a lot of candles lit, newspaper clippings, and things written on the wall in red. He impales himself on a knife. A man runs into the house, and finds his wife and daughter are not praying, they're dead and posed, and he then finds his dead son. In a CGI scene, the dead son's soul or whatever (his translucent face, and a vague indication of his body) is traveling through colorful tunnels. It's pretty laughably bad.

From that happy family, we go to Jeff Goldblum and his wife Christine Lahti on vacation with their daughter, Alicia Silverstone. They're corny, and their daughter finds them annoying. They get into a car accident on the way home, and Goldblum drowns or nearly drowns. He goes through the same sort of tunnels, but he also sees his other daughter who had died sometime in the past calling to him. It's pretty laughable too.

Alfred Molina brings Goldblum back to life, but Goldblum starts having visions of himself killing young women. He also finds that when he injures himself, the injuries heal up almost instantly (that was never explained). Goldblum worries for the safety of his daughter, who the killer takes an interest in.

In the end, there's a big CGI battle between good and evil. It's pretty corny too, and it's not just a matter of the now-dated special effects.

Original story. Good acting like the visuals don't understand the low score compared to the trash churned out today that makes this look like Shakespeare. But I guess each to their own Original story. Good acting like the visuals don't understand the low score compared to the trash churned out today that makes this look like Shakespeare. But I guess each to their own Original story. Good acting like the visuals don't understand the low score compared to the trash churned out today that makes this look like Shakespeare. But I guess each to their own Original story. Good acting like the visuals don't understand the low score compared to the trash churned out today that makes this look like Shakespeare. But I guess each to their own.

Hatch Harrison (Jeff Goldblum) seems to be connected with the mind of a murderer after a fatal car accident kills him (he gets better as doctors bring him back to the land of the living after around 2 hours of being not on this mortal coil. The thing is that while he was deceased so was a serial killer whom also gets revived at around the same time. Now suffering from terrifying visions, he has to solve this mystery before the killer strikes someone close to him (namely his daughter played by Alicia Silverstone) even as everyone thinks he's crazy.

When anyone claims that "Batman and Robin" contained the worst acting by Silverstone, I point them to this sorry little flick which she is atrocious in. However that's somehow fitting as this film is uniformly bad in most other aspects as well. Poor Dean Koontz it seems like none of his books will ever translate that well to feature films (and don't even get me started on those "Watcher" films...

My Grade: D

Let me begin with saying, that the movie really isn't that bad. Just make sure you haven't read the book before. If you have, don't watch the movie. Key elements from the plot of the book is either left out completely, or altered so drastically that it has significant negative effect on both the story and for certain characters, the character development throughout the plot. Actually, this is the 3rd Koontz adaptation I've seen in recent history, and I actually thought it couldn't get any worse than "Watchers", but this one is. So far, the least worst movie adaptation I've seen, is "Mr. Murder". So my recommendation, if your going to rent a Koontz movie, is to avoid this one. Read the book instead. It will take more time but will definitely be worth it.

I've seen earlier Brett Leonard's horror film "The Dead Pit"(1989-check out my comment of it!)and this director is incredibly overlooked and talented."Hideawy" is excellent-fast-paced,violent and really dark.The visuals(especially the vision of Hell)are really impressive,and Jeremy Sisto as a satanic killer Vassago is outstanding-he is pure evil!Great soundtrack bu such industrial/metal bands like KMFDM,Fear Factory,Godflesh("Nihil"-I love this song!)and Front Line Assembly.My absolute recommendation.

One night, while driving home with his wife and daughter, Hatch (Jeff Goldblum) gets into a car accident which results in his temporary death. Enter Dr. Nyebern, who has developed a unique resuscitation technique that can revive the dead even after a prolonged period of time. After his revival, Hatch begins having visions of young girls being murdered. It turns out that he shares some sort of special link with the deranged killer (Jeremy Sisto), as they have both been to the other side. Unable to convince anyone of his warnings and knowledge, it's only up to Hatch to stop the killer, who may have a target in mind close to Hatch's heart.

This film wasn't particularly exciting, scary or suspenseful. In fact, I scoffed at it from time to time. It was quite ridiculous, cheap, trashy, conventional, predictable, and laughable. The special effects were subpar and murky. The best and most inspired scene was during the first five minutes when the killer journeyed in agony towards hell, after committing an atrocious act and then committing suicide. At least that was something I had not seen too often before. The rest of the movie was merely another slasher film in disguise, no matter how high-gloss it seemed.

By the end of the film, many questions and plot holes had arisen but were not addressed. Also, the science, law, and technicalities (e.g. maintaining a patient's confidentiality despite being a menace to others) brought up in the film were terribly erroneous.

Much of the film was in bad taste. From time to time, the filmmakers treaded on thin ice by depicting questionable, unsavory, and objectionable acts and images. I also thought the film was going to make some point about spirituality, religion, hell, or heaven, but no such luck.

Though some characters were not written well or underutilized of their full potentials, the acting was fine, especially Jeremy Sisto's risky performance as the despicable creep. However, I simply did not care for Goldblum's character and was not convinced of his suffering. Some of his actions, reactions, and dialogues were wayward and awkward. Sometimes he made mistakes when he should have known better and was slow to catch on with certain matters. His wife's role (Christine Lahti) was mostly limited and reduced to that of the long-suffering spouse. She was there mostly to lend support when needed, only becoming a more independent and stronger character near the end. Alicia Silverstone's daughter character was limited in scope as well; mainly serving as a plot gimmick for the killer to prey on.

There are far better and scarier horror films out there, Hideaway is not one of them. One film that comes to mind is Lord of Illusions, which is more grotesque, violent, gory, and over-the-top, but effective nonetheless. It goes all the way with its unique, nightmarish, and sensational imagery, and knows no boundaries. Unlike Hideaway, it establishes no pretensions of the divine and evil, and engages us with interesting characters whom we care about.