Hidden

Directed By: Antoine Thomas

Starring: Sean Clement, Simonetta Solder, Jordan Hayes

Synopsis:

The English-language horror/thriller begins when Brian Karter’s mother dies; he is surprised to learn that he has inherited The Sanctuary, home to her controversial experimental addiction treatment center. During a tour of the decrepit building with his friends and a mysterious associate of his mother, it becomes clear that something sinister lies beneath the surface. Despite their misgivings, the group follows a secret passageway underground and comes to a terrible realization: Brian’s mother built a revolutionary machine that cured people of their addictions but, as a side effect, caused those addictions to materialize in the form of mutant children hungry for human flesh, now living in the bowels of the abandoned building. With the mutant children hunting the group as prey, Brian and his friends fight to stay alive against the inconceivable and soon realize that some things are better left hidden.

Hidden 3D, or 2D as it was for me due to the screener, was a truly painful experience. It was a horror film – a horror to watch. I always try to look at the positive in a movie, as any constant reader will help to testify, but I couldn’t find anything, no matter how hard I looked in Hidden. If I hadn’t requested a copy for review, you’d have got a few lines warning you to stay the hell away from it but I feel I should explain exactly why.

Cliché horror isn’t enough for me to steer away from a movie but it has to be backed up with something of interest; characters, plot, visual effects, a score, something unique to the movie. That’s where Hidden ultimately fails; there is little of any of this.

A guy inexplicably inherits a mansion/monastery that was used by his mother as a rehab centre. It’s clear from the start of the movie, in the admittedly impressive credit sequence, that she was experimenting in some unusual and unethical ways, so we already know something is going to be up with the place.

The guy and a bunch of people that we’re not introduced to go and visit the place. They go in, marvel at the place then get spooked before getting picked off one by one. The “characters” in this movie are of the type that you want to get killed off as quickly as possible to put us out of our misery. Their endings don’t come quick enough.

The dialogue is atrocious. An example; when one of the kids managed to kick away some iron bars to get to his girlfriend;

“Hey, I can kick through these iron bars”. Great.

There’s no empathy in the characters. Something nasty happens and the reaction is almost non-existent.

The opportunity to scare, using the children with black eyes and tentacle mouths, is never exploited. This shows just how inept the direction is considering how many movies employ simple tricks to make an audience jump. No technique is used to keep the audience awake, so forget the idea of scares. The CGI enhanced kids look as if they were test subjects for a Resident Evil movie, so think animatics and you’re near the mark. They’re not that bad but I’ve seen better in an episode of the TV show, Supernatural.

I’ve seen better acting in dubbed foreign commercials than in this film.

The CGI enhanced location isn’t too bad but, apart from a few chase scenes that almost generate some tension, the location isn’t capitalised on enough.

All the threat of creatures tortured by addiction and the promise of an explanation as to whether or not the insects contain souls is never capitalised on either.

It’s been reported that the production costs were $8M. Not much of it appears to be on screen. Unless, it was the cost of producing the film in 3D. If so, there isn’t much in the way of 3D effects, unless you count a bunch of flying insects as a reason for shooting a movie in 3D.

What is worse is that the ending implies that someone may have thought about a sequel! Now that is scary!

Summary:

This movie reeks of cynical, and lazy filmmaking. Argento collaborator Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni walked away from this project so I’m guessing that the idea must have looked good on paper. Some thought had gone into the screenplay and the science within the story; of the cure for addiction and the offspring that are produced. But, the realisation of it is something else entirely. It fails on many accounts. When there is far better on television, why invest in something that can’t deliver?

2 out of 10 (Wayfarer)

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