Hideaway (1995)

Directed by Brett Leonard [Other horror films: The Dead Pit (1989), The Lawnmower Man (1992), Man-Thing (2005), Feed (2005)]

It’s possible that this movie is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I don’t think Hideaway is a good movie, but I do find it occasionally decent, if only because of Jeff Goldblum’s presence. That said, it’s not a 90’s movie that I see attracting too many people for a plethora of reasons.

Based on a novel by Dean Koontz (though he was apparently quite displeased with the final product, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t that close to the source material), the story here is okay. It has sort of an Eye-vibe, what with Goldblum’s character sharing a telepathic connection with a serial killer. It’s nothing fancy, but given that we do have Jeff Goldblum, that does make it moderately more tolerable.

Which is even more useful when you consider that this movie is around an hour and 45 minutes. Had the central performance come from someone less engaging than Goldblum, I really don’t know if I’d have the will-power to get through this, but just because of him starring, that does add a lot.

Personally, I know Goldblum most from Jurassic Park, a movie I’ve loved since I was a child (and one of the few movies I actually own on Blu-ray), but he’s also known, by the horror community, for films such as The Fly, Mister Frost, and the television film The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. His performance here is pretty solid, and was actually one of the reasons I first went out of my way to see this movie.

As an antagonist, Jeremy Sisto (Wrong Turn, May, Dead & Breakfast, and Population 436) was pretty solid despite this being a moderately early role for him. He didn’t have that much in terms of agency, but he was suitably sinister. Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2) was nice to see, Alicia Silverstone (Batman & Robin, regretfully) had her moments, and though I don’t know her, Christine Lahti was okay.

One thing that’s particularly damning about this film, and this is something that I’ve forgotten since the first time I saw this, was some truly God-awful CGI. While this is mostly restrained to the first 15 minutes and the final ten minutes (not counting the post-credits scene), it was really laughable just how bad the special effects looked. It carried with it an almost hokey charm, but then it lasted longer than it should have. In fact, it reminded me a bit of Ghost in the Machine, another 90’s movie that’s a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, only I tend to enjoy that one a bit more.

I can’t think of a ton of reasons to really watch Hideaway. Sure, if you’re one who wishes to consume a large portion of Goldblum’s output, it’s worth a watch, and perhaps if you groove on subpar psychic-link horror movies, it’s right up your alley, but it’s just not a spectacular movie. I don’t think it’s abysmal, though – it’s watchable, and though maybe a bit longer than it needs to be, still reasonably suitable for a movie night. It’s just not that good.

6/10