Blyss's Movie Review for:
Main Cast of Characters:
Jeff Goldblum.........Hatch Harrison
Christine Lahti..........Lindsay Harrison
Alicia Silverstone.........Regina Harrison
Alfred Molina..........Jonas Nyebern
Jeremy Sisto...........Jeremy Nyebern/Vassago
1995. Rated: R. Genre: Horror; Thriller 106 minutes
A true battle of good vs. evil.....
A doctor's Satanic worshipping son kills his mother and sister and poses them in a worshipping position towards their family picture of Jesus in the house. He then goes upstairs and sacrifices his soul to Satan. However, just as he reached Hell, he was brought back to life. Meet Hatch Harrison, a normal family man who seems overly protective of his daughter Regina because he blames himself for the accidental death of their daughter Samantha. Hatch and his family are driving and they are involved in a terrible car accident. He manages to get Regina out but he and his wife crash down into the water. Just as Hatch reached Heaven and sees his daughter Samantha, he is yanked back into the living world. Hatch was dead for 120 minutes and then they brought him back with what his doctor, Nyebern, called new breakthroughs in resuccitative medicine.
Hatch is thankful to be alive, but then something strange happens. He starts seeing young women being murdered and he thinks he is the one doing the murdering. He suspects especially after he wakes up on the lawn with a slash on his arm after he had been in the kitchen cutting a tomato. He goes for more tests with Dr. Nyebern who says there is nothing physical and it was probably just a result of all of the trauma Hatch had been through. Then Hatch has a dream about his daughter Regina in a club. It is then he sees what this other man that has been killing young girls looks like and he finds out his name, Vassago. He can see what Hatch sees and Hatch can see what he sees. Vassago knows where to find the people Hatch loves and Hatch knows where he kills his victims even though their bodies are never recovered. Now all Hatch can do is try to save the people that he loves and keep Vassago from killing them. He finds out things that change his whole outlook on good and evil in general, all leading up to the ultimate battle between good and evil for all times!
Hideaway is my favorite Dean Koontz movie to date! I've read the book also and the characters seem very close to the book. I especially loved the ultimate battle of good and evil in the movie. Spirituality in movies always makes me watch because you don't see many so obvious. Jeremy Sisto did a great job playing Vassago. His voice is so deep that they didn't have to alter it too much to make it sound evil within the film. His talent amazes me. He can go from playing the evil Satan worshipping Vassago to playing an excellent Jesus character in the movie Jesus. Jeff Goldblum also portrayed Hatch Harrison in the type of light in which I imagined him after reading the novel. The special effects in the movie were great for the period in which this film was made. You definitely got the feeling the movie was trying to convey. The novel was even better than the movie, but then again what novel isn't? If the novel is not better than the book then something is wrong with the author. You can always tell an excellent author if the book is better than the movie. The book appeared to be even more spiritual than the movie. But overall, I highly recommend this movie. There is a a little gore but not much and the story is outstanding.
I rate this film: 9
Blyss