What happened to the good old days when horror movies consisted of supernatural homicidal maniacs mercilessly killing a group of teenage campers or a couple having sex? Or in many cases, a couple having sex while camping.
What happened to Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers? They've been reduced to cheesy match-up movies like "Freddy vs. Jason," or have simply lost appeal like the "Halloween" series. Ultimately, the horror genre has been replaced with the psychological thriller. The bad guys of the past, who have too often cut short many potentially great nude shower scenes with their impetuous manslaughter, have been replaced with something else, and something arguably more terrifying. That is the demon child.
No, these kids aren't equipped with razor sharp claws, chainsaws or goalie masks. Instead a team of highly talented make-up artists have skillfully padded their face with enough white foundation to make them look sickly pale and put enough baggage under their eyes to make it look like they've been on the back of a milk carton for weeks.
The latest demon child is the normally adorable Dakota Fanning ("I am Sam"). In the latest psychological thriller, "Hide and Seek," directed by John Polson ("Swimfan"), Fanning plays Emily Callaway, the troubled daughter of David Callaway who is played by Robert De Niro.
In the beginning, Emily is fun loving, happy and cute enough to be the cover girl for Welch's grape juice. However, after her mother suffers a tragedy, the cute little girl mutates into a cross between that of a gremlin and the product of generations of West Virginian incest.
David Callaway, Robert De Niro's character, decides that Emily needs a change so he moves her out of the city and into Woodland, N.Y, a remote village in the wilderness and the perfect setting for some hardcore clich?(c).
Emily continues to suffer with depression and having healthy relationships with other people, including her father. But things start to look up when she finds an imaginary friend named Charlie. Her mood begins to brighten as she and Charlie play their favorite game, hide and seek, throughout the house.
Charlie's positive effect on Emily is merely temporary. Soon enough, strange, unexplainable things are happening all over the house that make David question whether they are the product of his asylum-bound daughter or caused by something more extraordinary.
The "thrilling" part of this psychological thriller occurs when David tries to uncover this seemingly supernatural mystery. Unfortunately, it isn't very thrilling and the movie is too dumb to be considered "psychological." Consequently, all that is left is another horror film on the same intellectual level of the most recent "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
The movie offers nothing new within the genre. In fact, every scene and every sound reek of clich?(c). The director relies on creaky footsteps, thunderstorms, and a pale faced 9-year old for scare tactics. His clich?(c)-ridden film lacks any form of intelligent, thought-provoking fear because it relies on cheap thrills like a cat's meow or the slamming of a door for loud and abrupt noises.
Horror films like the "The Shining" or "The Ring" have added to mere auditory scare tactics with a more penetrating and visionary plot that could keep moviegoers with the shivers well after the film ends.
Although Dakota Fanning does well as the spooky and demonic child, the movie is too bloated with cheap thrills and unnecessary plot twists. Together, they combine to make an ineffective and dull horror film.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
