Film Review: Hide And Go Kill (2009)

Rate This Movie

SYNOPSIS:

A blog on a mysterious website quickly spreads like wildfire, starting a dangerous online game. At 3:00 in the afternoon, a teddy bear stuffed with rice and nails is sunk into a bathtub. The lights go out and the player is required to stab the bear with the knife, then write their experiences in the blog. But lately the comments have taken a dark, demented turn, as if the players are being possessed.

REVIEW:

Director – Hitori Kakurenbo
Starring – Saki Yamaguchi, Aimirora

First off, I like the title. Good grabber. This Japanese horror film is yet another entry into the “what in the world are these teenagers thinking?” Although there are some creepy moments and some good tension as the kids meet their predictable demise, it’s just hard to feel sorry for any of them because they are tempting things that just should not be messed with.

It all starts with a serial mobile novel entitled “Lonely Girl.” Released chapter by chapter, it has garnered the attention of a whole lotta young folk, including students Midori and Fumika. They can’t wait for the next chapter to be released, but it has been some time. Who is this author and why the delay? One part of the series that is especially intriguing to everyone is a game called “Hide and Seek Alone.” And what are the rules to this strange yet somehow alluring game?

Not too difficult. Take a stuffed animal, say, a teddy bear, and take out all of the stuffing and replace it with rice. Sew it up nice and good with red string and give it a name. All right, now that you’ve done that, you have to wait until three o’clock in the morning. You take it into the bathroom, place it in a bowl of water and stab it with a knife while saying “Now you’re the devil.” Then it’s time to run to a closet and pray that the thing you just summoned doesn’t come and find you. Now what could possibly go wrong, I ask you?

Well, it seems the internet is a buzz over this, almost like an urban legend. Is it real? Did kids really die from trying this? Are you going to try this? I guess when put into the context of teenagers feeling like they are invincible, it’s understandable to want and try to scare yourself. Bloody Mary anyone?

Fumika has been feeling down lately. After being dumped by a guy she just slept with and teased by the other girls about it, she stops going to school and withdraws into the “Lonely Girl” novel. Her friend, Midori, doesn’t know what to make of her strange behavior. Things get worse when Midori has lunch with the same guy that just broke Fumika’s heart. Not a good idea she discovers when she steps on a thumbtack placed in her shoe by Fumika. What’s a little blood among friends.

It turns out that Fumika has played Hide and Seek Alone and has won several times. She wants Midori to play as well, but Midori wisely refuses. At first. But hey, why not try something crazy suggested by someone who just hurt you?

There are effective moments throughout, not to mention some really good creaking sounds as whatever it was that has been summoned moves about. Not something you want to run into, that’s for sure. I never thought of stuffed animals as creepy, that area usually dominated by clowns and marionettes, but now I’m not so sure. One good scene has Midori waking up in the middle of the night to turn all of the stuffed animals in her room around so they aren’t staring at her.

The acting is standard as the girls and guys act appropriately terrified. The plot moves along rather briskly and there is no real down time. One interesting thing that is done several times is that the screen will go to black and words are typed across the screen, like a chat room. We only see the names of who is typing as the screen remains black the whole time. This technique works in the sense that since we don’t see the people, it adds to the legend of the game because it feels like you’re hearing this from third parties who may or may not know the truth.

Hide and Go Kill is not a bad movie and is a respectable entry into the horror genre. I would suggest seeing it, though it rates more a rental than a purchase. But after viewing, please don’t go messing with things you shouldn’t be messing with.

Hide And Go Kill (2009)