I enjoy scary movies with twists and turns, flashbacks and vengeful motives. As long as the script is executed nicely, and the actors don't ham it up, I'll rate such movies higher.
The Blair Witch Project, Hostel and other movies are what you watch when you seek night-time entertainment - Hide & Seek unfolds in a very similar way. Six characters who mostly dislike each other, are abducted by a mysterious agent and end up in some enclosed mall with all communication to the outside world broken down, not even mobile phones work here. Wonder why there's no security in such a huge premises anyway let's leave it at that.
The main antagonist is set to play a game of "hide and seek" on these clueless bunch, that too on similar themes that were played by the same characters 12 years ago. There's plenty of symbolism in the movie with Taj Mahal replica gifts, a loaded revolver, a video camcorder and a butcher's knife.
In short, hide & seek succeeds in grabbing your attention from the first scene itself. Also, special kudos to the acting cast that they did so well despite initial thoughts they could be amateurish.
However, the script still leaves behind plenty of loose ends which the film-makers should have solved. It looks like they were in a hurry to finish filming. Probably they were struggling due to tight budgets. If it's a low-budget flick, it's quite good quality though.
1. The original Hide & Seek game 12 years back wasn't depicted properly. They showed bits and pieces in flashbacks but the sequence wasn't clear. It would have been better if had they shown the entire sequence in one go. Here's my humble appeal - PLEASE DON'T OVERUSE FLASHBACKS.
2. The climax (I won't reveal) could have been handled better.
Anyway, next time I have to go to a mall alone at night, I might think of scenes from this movie.
Go and watch it.
