There are times when watching a movie kind of leaves it open for mockery on a level that doesn’t feel fair since the people making the movie are doing their best and might not appreciate the sentiment that goes along with each moment that’s pointed out as nonsense. But with Hideout, it kind of feels warranted since even if the cast were doing their absolute best, this movie comes off as something that’s, well, absolute nonsense. The main premise is that a group of robbers bungle a robbery, which is kind of expected in some ways, and have to find a place to hide after one of their group is shot. Two of them are brother and sister, one of them is an arrogant and aggressive individual that only makes things worse once his gunshot wound is no longer keeping him down, and the other disappears the moment that the group reaches the farmhouse they end up using as their sanctuary to make sure that the cops aren’t on their tail. It’s enough to make a person shake their head in wonder at why anyone would think this is a lame premise, right up until the moment when the premise starts to fall apart. Ironically, that moment comes when the dialogue kicks in while the robbers are in the farmhouse.
In all fairness, the idea behind this movie wasn’t that bad, and it could have been something great if not for the obviously low budget.
Sometimes you can’t do much about a budget when it comes to making a movie, but it is apparent that this movie did have a budget that wasn’t exactly beneficial, as can be seen by the end result. The idea that went into it, though, could have been something great with a few tweaks here and there that would be great enough to elevate this movie in a big way. The dialogue was, unfortunately, one of the worst parts of the movie since it felt chunky, out of place, and not at all like something that fit the idea that was being pushed. A lot of people might tell me to write a screenplay that’s better if I feel that way, it’s a knee-jerk reaction to criticism that’s kind of expected, but at the same time, a person couldn’t do much worse.
There isn’t much to indicate that this movie has anything to do with witchcraft, which could be a good or a bad thing.
There are a few hints here and there that witchcraft is a part of this movie, but otherwise, it remains muted or absolutely hidden, whether that was on purpose or not. The doll that was used eventually in the movie was a good hint that such an element was bound to show up, and the dancing that the young woman was performing could be another big hint. But for all intents and purposes, this was just an odd robbery movie that featured a few actors that might be trying to do something with their careers but haven’t yet managed to do anything that big where they might be noticed. It’s a little too easy to get hung up on the dialogue in this movie and therefore get bored by the less than useful transitions that are seen to occur throughout the feature.
The idea of calling this a horror movie doesn’t really make sense until later on.
Sitting through this movie is kind of tough unless one has something else to do at the time since otherwise, it’s very easy to zone out and end up missing a good chunk of it. The fact is that this isn’t that big of a deal since this is one of those movies that you can miss out on for a half hour or so and then figure out what’s going on only a few minutes into the next scene. Once the horror really starts in, though, it becomes easier to deal with since the moment that the robbers stop trusting each other, it becomes easy to see how the remaining captive, the young woman, is the most devious part of this cast. In fact, it’s kind of easy to get into her character far more than the others.
When all is said and done, this movie isn’t funny or even that scary.
It does try, there’s no doubt of that, but the attempt made to be something that it’s not is kind of, well, cringe-worthy at best. The effects look like something that was put into motion by a beginning film student, and the dialogue feels as though it was written by a beginning screenwriter or someone that’s lost the passion for the craft. I get it. Badmouthing a movie without having any credits of my own is bad form, but sometimes you’ve got to call out the nonsense to help people get better.
It’s not ridicule, it’s advice.
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