Hideaway MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -2 1/2

Antique dealer Hatch Harrison (Jeff Goldblum), wife Lindsey (Christine Lahti) and 16-year-old daughter Regina (Alicia Silverstone) have a car accident returning home from their cabin. Hatch is "dead" for over two hours before being revived by a revolutionary resuscitation technique. During his time in limbo, supposedly on his way to heaven, Hatch sees his younger daughter, killed years earlier by a hit-and-run driver. Hatch soon starts experiencing strange dreams and visions through the eyes of a serial killer. The killer, a Satan-worshipping teenager named Vessago (Jeremy Sisto), was also brought back from the brink of death. When Hatch discovers that Regina is the object of Vessago's twisted obsession, he must combat not only the killer, but the growing doubt of his family as to his sanity. From then on it's pretty much a formula thriller, with good ultimately triumphing over evil.

HIDEAWAY is also very violent with many bloody throat-cuttings. In the "old days", a graphically bloody killing occurred early in the film to establish the horror. With HIDEAWAY or other current thrillers, graphic violence intensifies as the film goes on. Hatch's ability to see through the eyes of the killer comes only when he inflicts pain on himself, which he does in gut-wrenching scenes. Vessago's Satan worship is not glorified, and is shown to have the realistic consequence of an eternity in Hell. After Hatch sees a tree in the symbolic shape of a cross, he enlists the aid of a clairvoyant spiritualist who reads tarot cards. This mish-mash of the message of the cross and the "validation" of occult practices is disturbing, and is becoming a common Hollywood theme. This adult thriller's obscene language and profanity add to its disturbing content.

Preview Reviewer: Pete Zimowski
Distributor: Tri-Star Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232