Hideaway

Plot synopsis:
After killing two women and ritualistically arranging their bodies as a sacrifice to Satan, a Devil worshipper (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 man, 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 he had killed his mother and sister. After his suicide, he had 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 and saving Regina. With his family safe, he exits the park with them.
The final scene after the credits shows Vassago being pulled in to be revived again. The operation is a success, but Vassago wakes up, takes a scalpel, and slits a nurse's throat. Hatch wakes up in his bed, realizing he was only dreaming. He then hugs Lindsay and falls back to sleep.

Tags: murder, paranormal, cult, horror, violence, insanity, sadist

Review:
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 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.
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..
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.
Jeff's quirky speech patterns have been the saviour of many a dull movie over the years - here, it almost takes second place to Brett Leonard's jaw dropping visual effects.
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).
I see the movie here in Monterrey and like too very much ...the movie offers an good approach about the moment of dead and the consequences of human acts, maybe no like to every body but have a good special effects and the director offer a different perspective of the God and Devil struggle.Hideaway offers a good suspense from the beginning and mix the lives of the actors very well, good photography and f/x, the movie have some nudity but no too strong.Hideway is a rare movie from Jeff Goldblum between Jurassic Park and Independence Day, have a good story with some of terror and classic thriller sequences..
It's not a "novel brought to the big screen." There are at least 3 film precedents for the terror, the struggle between Good and Evil, & the rejection of plot that, oddly, work well together, as they do here in "Hideaway:": 1st) Phantasm, 2nd, Phantasm II, and 3rd) Jacob's Ladder.
The scene switches to the Harrison family- Hatch (Jeff Goldblum- INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978), THE FLY), Lindsey (Christine Lahti), and daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone).
One night, while driving home with his wife and daughter, Hatch (Jeff Goldblum) gets into a car accident which results in his temporary death.
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.
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.
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 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..
Both Goldblum and Jeremy Sisto give fine performances, but the special effects keep me from grading this film any higher than a five.The climax was nail biting, and lasted for quite awhile, though the conclusion was a big disappointment.
Not long after losing one of his two daughters in a car accident, family man and antique store owner Jeff Goldblum suffers his own car trauma and literally dies momentarily; a doctor brings him back to life, but it seems Goldblum has brought good and evil powers back with him from the other side: he is now telepathically entwined with a psychopath who hunts young women.
Just back from the hospital, Goldblum begins having nightmares that look like bits and pieces of a heavy metal video; the viewer is cued up for the obligatory waking-up-with-a-jolt-from-a-nightmare close-up (and the movie doesn't disappoint).
Of course, nobody takes note that Sisto's latest victim looks like Goldblum's other daughter (Alicia Silverstone, who does nothing but whine), nor does wife Lahti take into account that just maybe her husband knows what he's talking about when he says their kid is in danger.
The movie makes absolutely no sense from a logical stand-point, though all of this is rendered inconsequential once Jeff and Christine arrive for a showdown with Sisto near the park's Big Slide ride.
You should know it right from the beginning when the film starts out with a cheesy special effects feast taking the viewer, literally, to hell.
Christine Lahti remains pale as the worrying mother and wife, Alicia Silverstone´s dialogue consists to 50% in the word "Daddy!" (she isn´t even as cute as usual in this movie) and the absolute low is Jeremy Sisto as the bad guy whose acting is, to put it politely, wooden and unconvincing.
The end is meant to be a gigantic battle between heaven and hell, good and evil and is one of the most ridiculous film climaxes I have EVER seen.
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.
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.
It's the best part of this movie(and watch out when it's enmeshed with that classical piece from the beginning of the film!).
Hopefully someone with talent and vision can find a way to make a movie, truly based on the book with Dean Koontz seal of approval, because I would love to see it..
But my real point is this:  As I watched the movie, I was at first almost certain that Jeremy "Jesus" Sisto's character intentionally resembled lead actor Jeff Goldblum.
It would be improper to put a Regina who had some physical disabilities in a Hollywood film, wouldn't it??!I don't usually compare movies and the books they are based on, but unintelligent changes of events and characters have taken out all the fun out of this one.
Hideaway(1995) is a bad and forgettable movie that doesn't attempt to be any good.
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..
But in the novel, Koontz went to great length to explain that today's music was no good and should end up in a garbage can while only sixties music was the real stuff (Yeah, right.) when this movie's soundtrack feature the best industrial bands in activity !
Jeff Goldblum and Christine Lahti deserve better that this, but I guess it's their fault for picking this horrible movie.
Another thing that struck me is that Alicia Silverstone, although pretty good looking, sucked in this film as well in all others I have seen her in (Clueless, The Babysitter and Batman and Robin).
While traveling on the road with his wife Lindsay (Christine Lahti) and his daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone), Hatch Harrison (Jeff Goldblum) has a car accident, hitting a truck and falling with his wife in a river.
Hatch has some weird premonitions and becomes able to see through the eyes of the psychopath serial killer Vassago (Jeremy Sisto), a young man that killed his mother and his sister and committed suicide and was also brought back to life and now is killing young women and teenagers.
When he foresees that Vassago is trying to capture his daughter, Hatch tries to find the criminal first, in spite of Lindsay, Regina and the detective in charge of the investigation believe that he needs psychiatric help."Hideaway" is another rip-off of "Eye of Laura Mars", I believe the first movie to explore the idea of a person connected to a serial killer through his eyes.
Hidaway tells the tale of the Harrison family, husband & wife Hatch (Jeff Goldblum) & Lindsey (Christine Lahti) plus their teenage daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone).
The visions continue as Hatch begins to think that he may have a psychic link with a serial killer named Vassago (Jeremy Sisto) but at the same time Vassago has a link with him & decides he'll pay Hatch's family a nice friendly visit...Directed by Brett Leonard I thought Hideaway was a decent enough horror/thriller but in the end nothing spectacular.
On a positive note I thought the film was entertaining for what it was, there's an average twist at the end which isn't brilliant but is better than nothing I suppose & it maintained my interest in where it was going.Director Leonard doesn't do much to impress, Hideaway is a well made but has little in the way of scares or tension.
Sure you have to pay stars Goldblum & Silverstone but apart from that there's no big action scenes, limited special effects, no exotic locations & the thing looks like a TV film on occasion.
The acting is pretty good & Goldblum is always good to watch although I thought Lahti as his wife was awful.Hideaway is a decent way to pass the time, it's not the best film ever but it's not the worst.
The only thing that remains the same is Hatch (Goldblum) and the circumstances which surround his amazing new "gift." Koontz's earlier works, as was the work upon which this movie was based, had little detail, although his characters are very well developed and his story lines/plots move along with little or no distraction at all.
However good the movie itself may be (or may not, depending on your point of view), Jeff Goldblum's performance completely redeems the horrid rewrite and inept direction of this production.
Even the slightest attention to scene settings and props make for a much more enjoyable finished product.Christine Lahti is very convincing as Hatch's (Goldblum's) wife, Lindsey Harrison, and Alicia Silverstone is believable and fun to watch, in her portrayal of the Harrison's younger daughter.
I'm not a fan of Ms. Silverstone's, but I must say her performance in this role is about the best I've ever seen from her.The twists and turns in this movie are a bit predictable, but there are a few surprises which leave you saying, "Wow..."...but what saved this production was Jeff Goldblum's marvelous talent.
Jeremy Sisto was a nice bit of eye candy for those who are interested in that, but it was Goldblum's wonderful gift for acting that put this movie in my horror collection.It was a good book, and is a good movie; it's just not enough like the book for me to feel comfortable with the adaptation, and the direction was completely lacking.
"Hideaway" really wasn't as bad as it could've been, but it's not all that great as it is.**SPOILERS**Coming home from their ski-top resort, Hatch, (Jeff Goldblum) and Lindsey Harrison, (Christine Lahti) and his troubled daughter Regina, (Alicia Silverstone) are involved in a horrific car accident, and Hatch is brought back from the dead afterwards.
As he begins a city-wide rampage that includes Regina in his targets, Hatch races to stop him before he can fully return from the dark side.The Good News: This wasn't all that bad of a film and did contain some nice moments.
The final battle, with the turns in the tide of the fight and the setting placed provide some really nice action scenes that effectively end the movie on a high note.
good movie, exciting thriller, nice to watch.
I did enjoy this thriller, it was very suspenseful throughout, climaxing in a marvellous finish.Having read the book (which was brilliant) as well, I must say certain key aspects have been changed for the movie, like for example Regina's character.In the movie, Regina is Hatch's biological daughter - a blonde, green eyed, carefree, flirty teenager, while in Koontz' book Regina is a crippled, small-for-her-age but very smart ten year old orphan with "grey eyes and beautiful deep auburn hair", who is later adopted by Hatch and his wife Lindsey.Also, Hatch dies in a traffic accident in the movie and is resuscitated after two hours.
Jeff Goldblum, who plays him in the film, is much taller at six foot four and a half and significantly heavier as well.Lindsey is blonde in the movie, but in the book she is described as a woman with "dark hair".So much for authenticity!
At least they made an excellent choice with Jeremy Sisto, who played the mad serial killer Vassago very convincingly.If you happen to have read the book first, you can't help but notice the dissimilarities, but that surely didn't stop me from enjoying this movie a great deal.
After Stephen King's short story "The Lawnmower Man" was adapted to the screen in the Brett Leonard's 1992-film of the same name and in such a way that the author himself tried everything possible to detach his name from the project, curiously the same thing was about to happen only three years later, when Leonard this time set on to direct an adaption of a novel of one of King's main competitors in the horror/thriller genre - Dean R.
Then we are introduced to our main protagonist Hatch Harrison (Jeff Goldblum), of whom we know relatively little - for example the film never bothers to explain what he does for a living (in the book he is an antiques dealer).
We see that he has a loving family - wife Lindsey (Christine Lahti) and teenage daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone) and only later do we find out that Hatch and Lindsey had another daughter, who died tragically in a car accident.
And speaking of car accident, shortly after we are introduced to the Harrisons (a cute little scene actually in which Regina's parents are playing a game of movie associations and try to get her to participate), another one takes place immediately after.
Coming back from the dead has come with a price - Hatch begins to have flashes of brutal murders as they are taking place, and seeing them through the eyes of the killer, not unlike the film "Eyes Of Laura Mars" from 1978.
This is the basic plot of "Hideaway" and although the story itself is interesting, there are many problems with the film.For starters everyone besides Christine Lahti (who really gives an amazing performance) was terribly miscast.
While not an absolute disgrace (it does have some good moments here and there - the car accident scene in the beginning I thought was handled pretty well) "Hideaway" remains a justly forgotten film, because it does not know how to convincingly tell a possibly good story, populates its' world with abysmally flat characters, loses tempo along the way, just to bring us to an absurd ending, devoid of any real payoff.
Hideaway is action supernantel film it the movie has a very good soundtrack it is one of best movies i seen.
First I read the book Hideaway then saw the movie later.
Based on a Dean R Koontz novel (obviously not one of his best) and scripted by the screenwriter of SE7EN, Andrew Kevin Walker, the film at least had something going for it, but it totally lacks any of the disturbing force that SE7EN may have had.The use of a psychic link to a serial killer is nothing new and goes back decades, it has been done much better in the past.
Alfred Molina and Rae Dawn Chong appear in small roles and are not given much to do.The thing I didn't like about this film was that it obviously thinks it's good, and it isn't.
Koontz novelisation, which bestows a capable bunch of actors in the likes of Jeff Goldblum, Christine Lahti, Alicia Silverstone (a wholesome turn before making herself big in "Clueless"), Jeremy Sisto and Alfred Molina.
Director Brett Leonard (from the "The Dead Pit") brings to the feature the computer special effects that shrouded his previous sci-fi film "The Lawnmower Man", but for "Hideaway" it's only used in minor doses in the sequences involving the afterlife / out of body experiences.
Jeremy Sisto and Jeff Goldblum's characters have both had near death experiences and are brought back with a connection.
The story is that of a man, played by Jeff Goldblum, who, following a near-death experience, finds he is psychically linked with a serial killer, played by Jeremy Sisto, who decides to go after Goldblum's daughter (Alicia Silverstone).
"Hideaway" was one of the worst films I have ever seen (and not in a "so bad it's good" way, either).