| Hide and Go Shriek (1987) 87 min |
| Like Brainscan, this is a film that I'm particularly fond of that most don't seem to share my enthusiasm for. Understandably, this is not a terribly original or fresh conept being exploited here, but everything works well for me. To begin with, I actually enjoyed everyone in the cast. The girls were all pretty and the guys weren't nearly as obnoxious as they are in the new wave of teen slashers. The action and murders were entertaining and frequent enough to keep the movie from becoming dull, but not too much as to be overkill and make the stalker lose any sense of menace. |
| Director Skip Schoolnik has been involved in the genre for over 20 years now. Frequently working as an editor, he has worked on Halloween II, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series and a ton of stuff in between. He's a co producer on the Buffy spin off Angel and has even directed a few episodes. Hide and Go Shriek was the only feature he's directed, but he proved himself quite capable of working with the tools provided here. Like Michael Simpson did with the delightful Sleepaway Camp II, Schoolnik recognizes the ingrediants of a successful slasher film and embraces them, instead of condescending them. What mystifies me, is how people are still mislead into thinking this is something that it never tries to be. The tag line is a dead give away 'Close your eyes. Count to 10. And run for your life.' as is the fact that it clearly states on the box 'In the terrifying tradition of Friday the 13th and Halloween'. One of the reviewers on the imdb states that '(Hide and Go Shriek) is no Citizen Kane...' I can understand if this film doesn't agree with your tastes in slasher films (it's all a matter of opinion as far as this goes), but let's please try to refrain from being so retarded as to draw comparisons to Citizen Kane! |
| The premise is simple enough. A group of 8 friends throw an overnight graduation party in a locked up furniture store. The main action is set rather quickly with a fun musical montage that was a prerequisite for this type of teen film at the time, and a couple of throw away lines to establish the setting (the furniture store owner, who is a father to one of the kids, says that he's letting an ex-con stay there and that he installed new shatterproof windows so that there's no way in or out). Once they're inside, there is some drinking, some fornicating, and a rousing game of hide and go seek. All the while there is a stalker running along and picking off the kids one at a time. Oddly enough, the stalker will put on the victims clothes afterwards (both male and female) to prance around in. |
| Like I said earlier, the story isn't especially original. Niether is it cliche ridden to the point of being no fun though. The movie is helped by a good 80s score by John Ross, straightforward direction by Schoolnik, and a likable cast. Schoolnik knows what makes a modest movie like this tick, and does everything really well, to make up for the lack of originality. Oddly enough, almost the entire female cast disrobes at one point or another (as opposed to the typical one 'slut' character thrown in for the guys to ogle and the girls to hate). The style is very 80s, which is good for me, but might be less appealing to others. Standouts are Bunky Jones as the big haired Bonnie and Annette Sinclair as the hot blonde Kim. I'd just like to reiterate my point once more to eliminate any possible confusion - Annette Sinclair is an absolute knockout in this movie! She represents just about everything that was right about the way girls looked in the 80s (along with Valerie Hartman in Sleepaway Camp II and Ginger Lynn Allen in Vice Academy*). |
| * among many other goodies! |
| I'll refrain from going any further into the discussion of the female cast for fear of sounding too much like a hormone driven 12 year old boy (even though it's probably too late for that!). Rest assured though, this movie isn't a simple T & A fest. The nudity quotient is kept relatively low. Eventually the kids band together (with their clothes on) in an effort to stay alive through the night. The end has a twist which isn't expecially shocking (which I think was the desired effect) but still seemed wholly satisfying to me. |
| Hide and Go Shriek has been out of print for some time now. New Star Video released the video in an unrated format with one murder slightly extended. It's a cool death, to be sure, but not enough to make a big deal out of it. I honestly have never seen another video distributed them and the catalog # is 1002. I'm wondering if # 1001 was possibly the R rated theatrical version. I've never seen the R rated version to comfirm this. The video quality is standard for those released in the late 80s. The problem lies in that most were ex rentals and have probably been watched quite a few times. According to the IMDB, Image released a laserdisc at one point. I was never wealthy enough to get into the LD craze (although there are some titles I really wish I owned) so I've never actually seen this. My guess would be that it was a full frame bare bones disc though. |
| All in all, this is a movie that I had a ton of fun with. Obviously it fits into the mold of a late 80s slasher, but it's a good one. I'm aware though, that other fans of 80s fare haven't looked upon it so kindly so I can't say as to whether or not most would agree with me. If anything though, it's a really fun time that goes by fast enough to be harmless in the end. So check it out and let me know what you think! |
| I give this one 4 hot Poison groupies out of 5! |
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| reviewed by Joe Canistro 06/05/2002 |