Hacth, a esposa Lindsey e a filha Regina voltam para casa após um fim de semana na montanha. Um ano antes, a filha mais nova havia morrido e o relacionamento entre eles está cada vez mais frio. O silêncio é interrompido quando o carro escapa ao controle e cai nas águas geladas de um rio. Lindsey cai junto com o marido e luta ferozmente para salva-lo. Quando chega o socorro, Hatch é dado como morto. Num centro hospitalar ultra-moderno ele é trazido de volta à vida pelo Dr. Jonas Nyebern. Enquanto os médicos lutavam para salvar sua a vida, ele sonha com a filha morta e vê que ela está feliz. Mas outras visões começam a perturba-lo. Ele presencia crimes sendo cometidos por um brutal assassino e passa a ter um comportamento violento. O que ele percebe e a esposa não acredita é que voltou á vida ligado ao criminoso chamado Vassago, podendo ver e sentir o que o assassino vê e faz. Mas Vassago também enxerga através dos olhos de Hatch, e o que vê são novas vítimas: Lindsey e Regina.
**_Coming back from the other side with a strange new ability (or curse)_**
A well-to-do couple in the Seattle area (Jeff Goldblum & Christine Lahti) is struggling with grief and the challenges of parenting a beautiful teenager (Alicia Silverstone). When the man seems to die in an accident he is resuscitated by a revolutionary doctor (Alfred Molina). Yet coming back from the afterlife has a peculiar effect as he starts to have visions of a local serial killer (Jeremy Sisto).
"Hideaway" (1995) is a psychological crime thriller with mystery/horror elements based on Dean R. Koontz’ 1992 novel. Dean hated the end results and wanted his name removed from the credits, but the gist of his story is intact (I guess the devil is in the details, as they say). True, the movie changes Regina from a cool orphan into a typical spoiled teenager and omits elaboration on how Vassago (Sisto) becomes what he is, but so what? You can only fit so much of a book into 1 hour and 45 minutes; besides, enough detail is there if you read in between the lines.
The movie reminds me of a meshing of the future “Kiss the Girls” (1997) and “Bless the Child” (2000). It shares the tone and general locations of “Disturbing Behavior” (1998) with the story being influenced by flicks like “Body Parts” (1991) and “Eyes of Laura Mars” (1978). Obviously if you favor these kinds of flicks you’ll probably like this one despite complaints by Koontz and fans of the book.
The storytelling is a little confusing in certain ways (for instance, if the killer dies in the opening sequence, how can he be alive & murdering people?). Yet everything is explained by the last act. Meanwhile the colorful CGI depicting the afterlife is quaint (being done in 1994) and reminiscent of the dubious effects in “Bless the Child,” but that’s okay because the afterlife should appear amorphous anyway.
Silverstone was about 18 during shooting and quite fetching, but she’s not the focus; Goldblum and Sisto are. Speaking of Sisto, he looks & acts like Jim Morrison would if he was a psycho serial murderer. Meanwhile Lahti was 44 at the time and looks great.
The ending at the titular hideaway (in a defunct amusement park) is thoroughly comic booky, but the flick has effective atmosphere and delivers the goods if you can roll with it rather than against it.
The film was shot in Britannia Beach, British Columbia, which is 20 miles north of Vancouver. Vassago's hideaway was constructed in the abandoned Britannia Mine.
GRADE: B-/C+
