Hide And Seek (DVD)

Hide And SeekNormalGenre: HorrorsLabel: 20th Century StudiosDescription: PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Horror about a newly widowed father who discovers his daughter is caught up in a web of evil. David Callaway (Robert De Niro) has been left to raise his nine-year-old daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning) on his own after the death of his wife. David is at first amused to discover that Emily has created an imaginary friend named 'Charlie' but it isn't long before 'Charlie' develops a sinister and violent side and as David struggles with his daughter's growing emotional problems he comes to the frightening realisation that 'Charlie' isn't just a figment of Emily's imagination. REVIEW 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