Hide and Go Shriek (1988) watch online HD

I really like this film. It is probably my most watched 80's slasher film in my extensive horror movie collection. I find it to be highly entertaining, original in it's attempts, and decently acted.

A group of teens decide to spend the night in a creepy old furniture store, which is owned by one of their fathers, to celebrate their graduation. Of course, a killer shows up, locks them in, and begins killing them off one by one during a game of Hide and Go Seek. While this film is far from a masterpiece, I think what I admire about it is that tries to be different from the other slashers pics that were released around the same time. It breaks the mold so to speak. So many slasher films released around this time stuck to the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" formula of a looming, silent, indestructible killer and a final confrontation between him and the virginal sole-surviving heroine. This film strays away from that and provides us with a human killer who, despite is ridiculous motive, is both intelligent and vulnerable. The fact that more than just the "virginal heroine" survives is also unique and surprising. And though they may not all look like they are really teenagers, the characters all act like they are and engage of some very humorous, typical teenage conversations. Their acting is certainly above average for this type of film and I really thought Bunky Jones (Bonnie) gave a great performance, particularly in the final minutes of the film.

The setting of the film is foreboding and the film becomes pretty creepy during the final 10-15 minutes when the survivors are cautiously making their way through the dark corridors of the furniture store, only to bump into some randomly placed mannequins. The director builds suspense fairly well in key scenes and having a killer who dresses up in his victims clothing as a trap to lure his next victim, as this one does, is chilling even if it is executed kinda silly here. The death scenes are quite tame and underplayed for this type of film (particularly considering the time it was released), but they are still effective and the killer never uses the same method twice. Again, it is also surprising as to which characters live and die and how sympathetically the filmmaker obviously feels about his characters. They are a likable bunch of kids and it is really hard to root for any of them to die, so even though it will anger gore hounds and people searching for a high-body count, the result should be appreciated by those who sympathize with and like these characters.

Despite the many things I like about this film, there are also things that just don't work so well. The opening scene with the killer picking up a prostitute is the definition of cheese and really doesn't fit with the direction of the rest of the film and certainly cannot be explained once we discover the killer's identity and motive, which is the film's main problem. The killer is ridiculous once we discover the identity and completely unintimidatng. Even worse is his motive for the killings. It sort of came out of left field and I, as a viewer, felt cheated. The dialog at the end of the film between the killer and his main quest is cringe-worthy, and it doesn't help that both are pretty bad actors (luckily, neither are on screen that long). The film, for me, would have been almost a perfect slasher film, had the ending gone in a totally different direction with a different killer. There are certainly some other cheesy, WTF? scenes, including one where the virginal, good-girl character is able to launch into a striptease for her boyfriend that rivals anything done by Demi Moore in "Striptease."

Overall, though, this is a highly entertaining film which outshines many similar attempts of the 80's because of its subtleness and . If you are any sort of horror/slasher fan, I would highly recommend this film. It doesn't set out to by an all out slash and gore film (which will upset some), but tries to be different and presents us with a group of teenaged victims who we can actually care about and get to know.

FrightMeter Grade: B

I LOVE THIS SLASHER FLICK, 4 gorgeous young woman and their dumb boyfriends decide to spend the night at a desolated building, where someone is watching them and killing them one by one. The scene in which one of the girls is decapitated is so graphic and cool. This has no original plot, but has blood, graphic violence, male and female nudity, lots of screaming and running scared and is well acted, and some scenes are actually suspenseful.

I had contemplated renting this movie so many times before i finally did, thrown off by the cover and the generic plot summary on the back. But when I finally forced myself to rent it, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. First off, i LOVE 70's and 80's slasher films, and this one is definitely my fave of the latter decade. Atmospheric, and with decent acting (although at many points, over-acted!), this film kept me entertained from beginning to end and had some decent gore effects (including my fave decapitation scene EVER!). I also like the cheesy 80's musical score, and the claustrophobic feel the film had from being set entirely in a furniture store. I gave it 10/10 *'s cuz i think it's way above average for this kind of film.

A handful of teenagers sneaks into a furniture store owned by the father of one of the teenagers.An ex-convict,just recently released,has been hired to realize a variety of manual tasks.Because he hasn't had the time to find anywhere to live,he is temporarily living in the building.The teenagers believe they are alone to eat,drink and have sex.However,someone is spying on them from the darkness.As to not be noticed,they leave the lights out.When they understand that somebody is watching them,it is too late:heads start to roll and blood starts to flow.After each murder,the killer steals his victim's clothes and fools the next teenager by making them believe he is one of them."Hide and Go Shriek" is a pretty good slasher.The killer wears his victims' clothing,whether they are men or women and the plastic mannequins look creepy.There is a good amount of violence and gore including memorable death scene where a teenager is attached on the roof of an elevator and the ceiling tears off her head when the elevator changes floors.So if you like slasher films give this one a look.7 out of 10.

*SPOILERS* The film opens with a "dramatic" sequence where a tranvestie man is raped (or at least that seems) by another man. After the tragic event the opening credits roll, and you have a peculiar opening sequence for a slasher movie.

In the next scene eight friends plan to celebrate their high school graduation in a furniture store at night, owned by the father of one of these kids. Before the teens arrive, the owner of the furniture hires an ex con to take care of the store at night. Apparently, the ex con tries to start a new life and follow the right path. Unknown to him, the teens sneak into the store at night and start their party. As the night passes, one by one these teens are brutally murdered by an unknown killer that has a wicked concept of fun. After killing them, this killer wears their clothes. Yes, he even uses the women's clothes. The main suspicious is Fred (the ex con) but apparently he's not behind the murders. When the other 4 teens discover the dead body of their friends, they start a hunt in order to find the killer. From out of nowhere, Fred appears and asks them "what are they doing here?" only to be physically beaten down by one of the boys. They think they found the killer when suddenly, the real killer makes a frightening and weird introduction. Who will survive? What's the identity of the killer? and what's his relation with Fred?

I had the chance to watch this little known slasher for the first time two years ago on late night cable. After watching it, I thought that the premise was interesting (highly based on Chopping Mall from 1986). I thought that this was a recommended slasher, better than the average.

I've had the chance to watch "Hide and Go Shriek" 3 times in the past 2 years and my opinion has changed. This is an average slasher, it has the elements that made the genre popular, but clearly it's not one of the bests out there. There's decent gore (the decapitation is the best kill), and a creepy atmosphere (the mannequins added a touch of uncertainness and fright). O the bad side, the acting is terrible, the score is boring and repetitive, and the plot turns boring and tedious after the first 30 mins. Bunky Jones is hot! she's candy for the eye. The best about the film is the ending which is truly shocking, not because it's great or innovative, but it's something you don't expect. Disgusting. This is just a film for slasher fans, those who enjoy the greatness of this genre. Not for everyone!

Anyways, give this slasher a try only if you are a die hard fan of the genre. Watch it with low expectations. 5/10. I have warned you!

This movie has it's good moments... It has scary scenes, scary music, gore, original killings, and an original killer.

Give this movie a try. If you feel scared during the movie, I bet that at the end of it you'll feel like an idiot because the killer is VERY... Ok, you'll have to find it out heh heh.

I really liked Hide and Go Shriek... It was very entertaining and scary! See it if you are a horror fan! Slasher films around the late 80's were cheesy anyway...but this one stands out. The only thing that was weird was the killer...

(**1/2 out of *****)

A group of horny young teenagers (aren't they all?) break into a furniture warehouse for a night of frivolous games and serious sex (or is it serious games and frivolous sex?) But, wouldn't you know it, a wet-blanket serial killer/madman has to start butchering everyone and spoiling all the fun. This looks even more low-budget than most ‘80s slashers, but I actually enjoyed it, once things got going. For one thing, the setting is great -- with an old, open elevator and multiple, dark floors full of mannequins and beds, so that the characters never know where the killer is, not to mention each other -- and the survivors are not necessarily the ones you'd expect (you never know who's gonna get it next.) There's the expected nudity and violence, but the mood and suspense place this one slightly above other teens-locked-in-a-building-with-a-psychopath slashers of its kind.

HIGHLIGHT: One girl waits for her boyfriend to come back to bed, unaware that the killer has messily disposed of him and put on his clothes, setting up a very scary scene of mistaken identity.

"Hide and Go Shriek" came out towards the end of the 80's where the Slasher Genre was going stale and many of them going straight to video. Hide And Go Shriek though was one of the last and one of the best titled, even though it is a fun ride there's just not enough of the teens die.

A small group of teens have just finished high school and are heading for college and are about to celebrate they're last summer as youngsters, so they get the idea to have a party in a furniture store which is owned by one of the teens father. Unbeknownst to them, a tattooed ex-con, who works at Fine Furniture, lives in the back. The teens set up shop and begin a night of trysts and games of Hide and Go Seek. But someone else has stayed after hours and they begin playing a deadly game of dress-up and die.

Hide and Go Shriek plays its hand with an unusually sleazy manner. Not that the murders are particularly graphic, but there's enough homoerotic subtext to keep even the most practiced film geek on their toes. From an early and hilarious scene involving two boys working out together before one of them says "see you in the showers," and takes a healthy bite out of a banana to the killer dressing in drag, it's a feast of euphemisms and cross-dressing.

It would be easy to say that this movie was oddly cast with untypically regular looking kids with a penchant for dinosaur earrings, surfer shorts and skinny ties, but alas, it was only the end of the 80s where stone-washed was a household word. With a mixture of good acting and bad acting, the killer and the bimbo (Annette Sinclair) stand out as the most interesting and talented of the bunch. But Rebunka Jones (credited here as Bunky!) comes across as the most memorable character in the film. In all her banana clip glory, she sneers and leers so much you start fantasizing about her ugly demise.

All in all "Hide And Go Shriek" is a fun enjoyable ride, it certainly has it all irritating teens, nudity, bad acting interesting death scenes even though too many of the teens survive adding less tension to the final scenes, a definite must see if you're a fan of the 80's horror scene.

Hide and Go Shriek is one slasher film I had always wanted to see, but is so hard to find. It isn't released on DVD and the VHS copies are almost impossible to find at a reasonable price. I managed to see it online recently, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was compared to other horror films made around 1988.

The movie starts out with the murder of a prostitute. We don't see the full face of the man that kills her, but we do see him putting on makeup just before. Eventually we meet our main cast of eight young characters who plan to have a party in a furniture store after it closes. One of the girls wants to play hide and seek in the dark building. And that is when the fun begins. The psycho killer stalks the floors of the furniture store, murdering anyone he comes across. The film features one main suspect throughout, but an interesting twist makes this late eighties slasher very unique and a cut above others made at this time.

The filming location of the dark furniture store works really well for a movie like this. And the creators of Hide and Go Shriek throw in some mannequins to throw the audience off. Sometimes you'll see a mannequin and for a second think it is the killer, seeing as the killer likes to dress up in woman's and men's clothing. There is also a really cool scene of the characters banging on the glass windows at street level trying to get someone's attention only to find no one is out and about that late at night. The level of gore in minimal but effective, there is plenty of nudity though. The acting is pretty good as well. I strongly recommend seeing this, hopefully one day it will get a proper DVD release.

8/10

Ready or not. Here I come. Should you turn a blind eye, and pass this one as if you didn't notice it. Well, I didn't mind it, so why not take a chance. It's a passable, unassuming late low-cost 80s teen slasher of the same-old cheesy hijinks. Boozing, sex, party games (hide and seek on this occasion), topless nudity and a killer on the loose. You get the picture. It's got everything down-pat. The story sets the situation one night in a furniture store that one of the teen's fathers owns after the complex has shut for business. Unknowingly to them their playful attitude turns to survival when they realise they're being preyed upon in the locked-up building by a (well-dressed) killer that likes to wear the clothing of his victims (and doesn't like people who don't have a shopping agenda). Even with its slack pacing (plenty of aimless clock-punching to open), puerile script, dim lighting (which could create few eerie moods) and cheap FX. It manages to build up an ominous atmosphere (thanks to a brooding rock score and murkily vast setting) and install a real nasty side (some vicious and creative attacks caught by the leering camera) that all but evaporates in its spontaneously fruity climax and sudden conclusion. It's beyond silly and insipid! That'll hold up in court. Every now and again the director (quite clunky, flat and rough handling) tries to make you jump, but with less than flattering results. The performances from the young cast are hysterically over-dramatic, but do entertain with their boneheaded characters. They're not entirely likable though. Rancid, but mildly enjoyable slasher clone.

A must see! if you want to watch a movie with false scares, creepy environment, creepy music, and entertaining death sequences, then

"Hide and Go Shriek" is the perfect movie.

The flaws about this movie are bad actors, and a boring plot (8 teens stay in a place and get stalked and killed by someone). This movie is different from others because we get to know the killer at the end, and BELIEVE ME, it will be scary.

This movie will sure give you the creeps...

Hide and Go Shriek (1988)

*** (out of 4)

Eight teenagers decides to stay in one of their father's furniture stores after hours so that they can have fun, drink beer and have sex all night. Everything gets off on the right foot but soon some sort of maniac begins picking them off.

Why on Earth haven't I heard of HIDE AND GO SHRIEK before now? Why is it that one of the better slashers of the 1980s doesn't have much of a reputation? I went into this film expecting some sort of by the numbers slasher but it turned out to be one of the best that the genre has to offer. If you're looking for an art-house film then this here is certainly not that but if you enjoy the slasher genre then there's a lot of really good stuff here.

Director Skip Schoolnik and writer Michael Kelly certainly know what a genre fan would want and they deliver it here. The slasher genre was pretty much dead by this point so perhaps that's why this film came out and went away rather quickly but it's certainly waiting to be rediscovered. What makes this film work so well is that it perfectly lives up to what you'd expect out of the genre. There are four females on hand and all four of them are naked. You've got several sex scenes that are here for no other reason that to see hot girls naked. You've got a pretty good mystery as to who is doing the killings and finally we have some clever death scenes and blood.

All of that stuff adds up to one of the better horror films of the genre. Another thing that really helps the film is the fact that the cast members are all very fun to watch. All eight of them, and the two supporting characters, are fun and while the performances aren't the greatest they're at least good enough to where you can enjoy the characters. I also thought the film benefited from you not knowing who would live or die as they keep things mixed up pretty well throughout.

Sure, there are some flaws in the film but there's no question that fans of the genre really need to check this one out.

This 1988 horror film features 8 friends who decide to spend the night in a furniture store owned by one's father where they celebrate graduating high school and play a game of hide and seek, but a killer decides to change the rules. This starts off OK, but falls flat because the characters are unlikable, it's over a half hour until the killer strikes and most of the film is too dark. The film does have a creepy score and some gruesome deaths/kills. Fans of the genre may still want to view this at least once, but it's bland in my opinion.

A group of eight obnoxious teenagers decide to celebrate graduation by partying overnight in a furniture store. That night, they are hunted down and sometimes killed by a psycho.

I see that some people speak highly of this one, but frankly, I don't see the appeal. It's a very routine slasher that has barely anything interesting to offer. The cast & characters are monumentally annoying, spending a lot of their time lamely attempting to scare each other. The girls are sexy and there is some nudity; there's also decent gore by Screaming Mad George. "Hide and Go Shriek" can also boast the novelty of a killer who is often changing costume (shades of "Terror Train"), sometimes appearing in drag. Director Skip Schoolnik (one of the editors on "Halloween II" '81) gamely tries to create as much atmosphere as he can from the setting, and the movie does have some effective lighting courtesy of Eugene D. Shlugleit. But it's a fair amount of effort wasted on a mostly blah script.

At least in this one, our killer doesn't have a run of the mill motivation. It is amusing once it is revealed just who they are. But "Hide and Go Shriek" is rough going for a while, as it is boring and inane in equal measure.

If you're a devoted aficionado of all things slasher related, you'll want to see it for completions' sake, but don't get your hopes up high.

Four out of 10.

"Hide and Go Shriek" follows a group of high-schoolers who have just graduated. Naturally, to celebrate their adulthood, they decide to spend the evening throwing a small party in one of the kids' father's furniture store after hours. But a cross-dressing killer has arrived to crash their party game of hide and go seek.

Drawing on pre-established slasher traditions that were honed by many films in the early–mid-eighties, "Hide and Go Shriek" doesn't really get any points for originality. The setup is predictable, and the furniture store setting is reminiscent of the shopping mall backdrop in "The Initiation" or even "Chopping Mall." Kids have sex, they are effectually murdered, and a jarring synth score punctuates the deaths. What the film does have that distinguishes it a bit is the gender-bending killer, which, save a few rare instances, does mean the film was a bit ahead of its time. Director Skip Schoolnik plays with the killer's image effectively, providing eerie fleeting shots of a masculine figure in a negligee running through the store; the prologue of the film shows the killer being raped, which sets the stage. At other times, the killer appears in men's clothing, donning a blonde wig stolen from store mannequins. Each of the images are well composed and eerily rendered.

The acting is a mixed bag, and some less-than-stellar dialogue doesn't exactly help matters, but by eighties slasher standards, the performances here are far from the worst. In true slasher fashion, the gore is ramped up here, with some brutal and inventive death scenes. As is the case with the majority of the film, the last act isn't particularly fresh or interesting, but the reveal at the end is definitely unorthodox in the slasher world.

Overall, "Hide and Go Shriek" is not bad as far as eighties slasher films go, especially those from the latter half of the decade, a time when the well seemed to have run dry. The film doesn't offer much in way of surprises, but it is an entertaining and mostly well made film. The scuzzy, gender-bending villain who shifts from guise to guise is what really makes the film stand out, and is where most all of its tension and intrigue is generated from. 7/10.

BIG spoilers, but you shouldn't care... Skip Schoolnik's Hide and Go Shriek is a strong contender for the price of absolute WORST slasher-movie of the 80's. Simply every aspect of this is film is very wrong and downright pathetic, which makes it all the more surprising to see that all my fellow reviewers on this site are so mild in their opinions! This thing is hopeless right from the start, with the introduction of the most insufferable ensemble cast ever! These teenagers don't only look stupid; their personalities don't make the slightest bit of sense. First we see two males in a gym, weightlifting and driveling about graduation parties. Okay, they're standard high-school jocks that act tough and talk dirty, it seems, but instead they're total wimps! One of them constantly tells his virgin girlfriend that it's OK to wait with sex until she's ready and the other one is terrified to mess up his daddy's furniture warehouse. The next male that gets introduced is supposed to be the obligatory sex-addict, yet all he ever nags about is his 6$ haircut. The last male looks like a typical dork, and you expect the others to pick on him, but no, he's actually part of the team! The same goes for all the girls. Judging by their looks and exhibitionist-tendencies, you're expecting a troop of sluts and bimbos, right? Wrong again, because these ladies talk about how sacred marriage is and they're even giving away their own sexy lingerie to a chubbier girl so that she's more likely to have sex with the aforementioned dork. What kind of teenagers are they? The stupidity of these youngsters is made complete when it turns out they have their very own friendship dance-ritual to Aerosmith's "Walk this Way". The gang has finally finished high school and they plan a wild celebration in the furniture store owned by John's dad. Their idea of a graduation party is – get this - to play hide & seek! How old are they, twelve?? After the game, and ignoring the fact some of them already vanished, they all have dinner together and go to bed early. I stand corrected; they're actually seven years old… Then, of course, there's the homicidal maniac who – thank God – consistently murders our teenagers one by one. The death sequences are the only redeeming moments and you should enjoy the elevator-decapitation scene as much as you possibly can because the denouement is totally retarded again. Naturally I'm not going to blab the killer's identity here, but you better prepare yourself for the most retarded…incompetent…implausible…ludicrous…craziest ending in low-budget horror EVER! One of the many reasons why 80's slashers are so popular is because you can participate in guessing who the killer is. You simply can't do that here and people who carefully paid attention to every small detail will feel cheated and furious. Total laugh-riot.

Contains a small spoiler

In these times of extreme political correctness that really began to surface in the Reagan and Thatcher era of the eighties, before the New Labour government underlined them in bold print. Even the slasher genre - one of cinema's most simply structured - has had to suffer the expense of revamping so as not to offend a minority. The first case that was questioned was the lack of any non-white cast participants, which was at least a fair criticism. Many of the early offerings were made up of strictly Caucasian actors and actresses, and although it was most probably only the mistake of absent minded casting directors. One can understand how it may have looked slightly prejudiced. Far more absurdly, it was considered sometime in 1987 that Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger et al's sexuality was somewhat un-clarified; and so what we really needed was a camp transvestite knifeman to even up the ante. Hide and Go Shriek (or 'Close your eyes and prey' as this copy was titled) took it upon itself to fill that void, by releasing a standard splatter flick with all the routine ingredients, only they've chucked in a 'crossly dressed' twist. Why they thought that horror's most popular theme (as it was around the time this was made) needed camping up was a mystery? I mean, please don't take me the wrong way, I am by no means homophobic. In fact I don't even have a problem with men who feel more comfortable in a pair of suspenders than they do in slacks! We live in a democracy and I believe that everyone is entitled to do what he or she wants to, behind closed doors and in the comfort of their own homes. But let's look at it this way, would you have felt the same about Michael Myers if he had relinquished the Shatner mask and instead gone for some pink blusher, mascara and a ra-ra skirt? I can't see it hitting the same switches some how! I think you'll firmly agree.

The first shots were surprisingly creative, showing the desolate back streets of a gloomy American city, shrouded with graffiti and the smoke bellowing from the chimneys of an industrial slum. Perhaps it was meant as a comment on the seedy urban atmosphere and it's equally socially inept inhabitants that our plot may resolve around? Either way, it was a great way to set the mood, and the music at this point was also worth noting. It sounded a bit like a shabby, yet impressive synthesizer rehash of James Cameron's Terminator theme-tune. The next sequence was a lot less inviting, as we see a man applying make-up in front of a mirror in a dingy room. The director only gives us close ups of his lips, eyes and cheeks, so we haven't exactly got a full-on positive identification of this sleaze-ridden character. Next up, he's seen driving along a road filled with prostitutes that all (unsurprisingly) look startled when they witness his bizarre attire. One hooker that was obviously desperate for the cash approaches him and climbs into the car. Soon after we see that she's been stabbed in the stomach and left to die in an alleyway. It looks as if this guy's got some serious issues.

Have you guessed whom we're introduced to next? Why of course you have, its four cheesy eighties knuckleheads, with haircuts that you and I wouldn't even wear to a fancy dress party. There's Randy, whom looks like Vanilla Ice's deranged alter ego. Craig and John are your typical mulleted jocks, whilst Shawn's a dead ringer for Donnie Osmond circa 'Puppy Love'! They're all planning on spending the night at John's dad's large furniture shop, so they can make good use of the fresh double beds and get up to the things that seem to p**s off so many psychopathic serial killers. They're going to sneak in just before he locks up and leaves, giving them about twelve hours to cut all kinds of capers inside the spacious store. It wouldn't be too much fun if just four guys went alone now, would it? So next we get a good look at their four raucous girlfriends all in low-cut tops and short skirts, discussing philosophical subjects like marriage and how their boyfriend's sexual performances compare with one another! Kim and Bonnie are exceptionally good-looking, whilst Melissa and Judy are less attractive but still manage to look like they spent half a year in make up and half a million dollars on hair spray. It seems that Judy's still a virgin, commenting on how nervous she gets when the subject arises. She's really looking like an obvious aspirant for surviving girl responsibility at this point, unless of course she's dumb enough to succumb to desire whilst sharing a king size (bed) at the party. They all head round to John's place to meet up and 'embark on the adventure of their lives'. They show us exactly how excited they are by performing a synchronised 'moon-walk' around John's midi-van, before climbing aboard for the ride. Whilst on their journey, they take the time to stop at a junction and play 'musical car seats'! Yep, strangely enough, the troupe all jump out of the wagon and run around in circles before hopping back in and driving off. Why? I haven't got the foggiest, but perhaps they were a little like Beavis when he goes all 'Cornholio'. You know, get all hyperactive when they've munched too much candy? I can't say for sure, but one has to wonder what type of people think-up some of this stuff?

The posse soon arrive at the location for their party, where we first meet John's father, Phil. More importantly, we see the bald and tattooed Freddy for the first time, which looks a lot like he could definitely be psycho-assassin material. He's an ex-con that did six years in choky for armed robbery, before being released for his good-behaviour and getting himself a job living-in and looking after the conveniently spacious store. Donnie, sorry, Shawn seems to think that 'he looks creepy', an opinion that is shared by one of Phil's higher-up associates whom comments, `A couple of the dock-workers are odd (but) this one -' Me thinks me smells a mystery emerging! Once the teens get inside the impressively dark emporium and lock the doors, they decide a game of hide and go-seek is in order. What they don't know is that an uninvited guest wants to make his own rules, and replace the existing title with the more fitting 'find and go-kill'.

Close your eyes and prey suffers from a conspicuous lack of decent lighting, but for once it works to the flick's advantage. Some of the gloomy shots help invoke a seriously eerie atmosphere and the inclusion of mannequins always helps to make things spooky. They just have that aura of horror that surrounds them, which they just can't seem to shake off in the movies. The killer is usually seen only in silhouette, cackling crazily in the darkness. When he murders the teens, he steals the clothes from their corpses (male or female) and tricks his next victim into believing that he's actually their friend. He then coaxes them off to a secluded corner and before they've had a chance to realise that he isn't who they thought he was, he charges like a bull in a China shop and brutally slaughters them. Skip Schoolnik manages a fair amount of suspense and he also chucks in one or two neatly edited false scares that actually work. There's hardly any really graphic gore, although one decapitation was pretty nasty and all the killings are fairly interesting, not to mention gruesome. (Anyone fancy impalement on a triple spiked statue?) When the teens realise that there's a maniac locked up with them, unlike the multitude of dumber than dumb slasher massacre material, they do the right thing. They each grab a weapon, find a corner and stick together until help arrives, instead of wondering off to 'just check out that strange sound.' If the campers over at Crystal Lake had decided to do that a few times, perhaps Jason's body count wouldn't be so high and America wouldn't be suffering from an extreme shortage of Camp counsellors! There were a few smart sequences that warrant a mention. The most notable was when some of the surviving teens desperately bang on the sound and shatter proof - thick glass windows at the front of the store, to try and attract the attentions of the cop car that's literally parked right in front of them. Imagine how they felt when they see their only chance of survival climb back in the vehicle and speed off without looking back. Talk about bad luck!

Unfortunately, all those above average moments are completely ruined as soon as the MALE killer is revealed and he says things like, `A housewife's work is never done.!' Dressed in bondage gear and full make-up he reveals his motives for murder and ruins the entire movie. I won't spoil them for you, but let's just say that they're the most stupid conclusion too what looked to be a promising launch. The acting's horridly unconvincing, especially from Bunky Jones (what a name!) who's pathetic portrayal of a woman in peril was as rancid as a flea-bitten mongrel's back teeth. There isn't a great deal of murders either; leaving too many survivors for my liking and the sequel-friendly ending brought a lump to my throat. (Surely they didn't plan a follow up?) It doesn't even manage that many inadvertent laughs (except for the musical car seats and the moon walking!). Mind you, one thing that I did find amusing was when the 'shy' and 'in-experienced virgin' says that she wants her 'first time' to be special. She then does a full-on lap dance that would earn her a fortune in most strip joints! Erm, wasn't she supposed to be nervous? Is that really what insecure people do? The goody gumdrops persona was running a bit thin by that point! This does have one significant element that actually works however, - a truly, truly terrifying killer. A camp transvestite with a switchblade! Makes me shiver just thinking about it; and I for one certainly wouldn't want to bump into him in a dark alleyway!

It's a shame that they had to ruin this offering with the inclusion of a pointless plot-twist just to keep everybody happy. I'm sure that the gay community didn't feel left out that there hadn't yet been a homosexual psycho-killer, so it really was just pointless. If you do want to enjoy this slasher that manages the odd interesting moment, then turn it off at the 117-minute mark. If you're not prepared to do so, then leave it at the bottom of the bargain bucket.

Looking for an uninterrupted sex romp, a gang of teens head to the furniture store owned by the father of one of their group. Once there, they begin a game of hide & seek. . . the game comes to an abrupt halt when a cross-dressing murderer begins to stalk them down one by one.

Overall, this was a pretty good 80s slasher, but it lacked much of what 80s slashers really need: good gore and/or violence. While there are a few kills, they're pretty tame (from drowning to an unseen stabbing with a mannequin's detached limb). There are some pacing issues as it moves from fun & fast to dull & slow without much transition. The acting isn't too bad, but the characters get annoying at times. The writing wasn't terrible either, just nothing impressive. The film isn't terribly original, but the idea for the killers was something fresh, and in the end, it turned out to be a slightly above-average teen slasher worthy of a look for fans of this subgenre.

If you're looking for an easy 80s slasher with a bit of a twist to it, give it a look. You could do worse.

Final verdict: 6/10.

-AP3-

Hide and Go Shriek is probably a slightly better than average slasher movie. Kind of damning with faint praise really but it does what one would want from a slasher movie and doesn't really excel or stand out in any particularly negative or positive way. The plot revolves around a group of eight teenagers, four couples, who decide to have a post-graduation party in the furniture store, which is owned by the father of one them, one night. Unfortunately for them there is a killer in the building along with a scary looking ex-con who is an employee of the store and living there temporarily who might have some connection with the killer. Naturally they get up to the usual slasher teen hijinks and are picked off one by one.

It would kind of redundant to go into a detailed plot description of Hide and Go Shriek as it follows the standard formula or the slasher pic with little straying from the formulas. It begins with a pre-credits sequence in which we see the killer, a dude in cruddy tenement slum putting on a suit and liberally applying makeup to his face, although we don't actually see a proper shot his face, before picking a prostitute and knifing mid-coitus. I initially thought that there would be some kind of twist revealing the identity of the gender confused killer given they make such a point of not giving us a good look at his face but nothing like that happens. After this we are introduced to our leads before they move quickly to the slaughter point, were they are to be locked in for the night and are slaughtered. There're a fairly unremarkable bunch, complete with eighties big hair and styles, all quite bland and whitebread- there are no token dorks or ethnic minorities and are conceivably a group of individuals who might actually hang out together. I will give the director credit for casting a slightly hotter than average group of actresses and for getting three out of the four naked during the movie, with the fourth coming close. I think he should have, purely for the completion's sake.... no other reasons, honest.

For the first two thirds of the movie the plot seems to revolve around reason for the group of characters to split up. Playing hide and seek (Twice- once would have seemed a strange thing for a group of supposedly seventeen year olds to be doing but twice, even stranger), splitting off to have sex and looking for the missing members of the group once the killer finally starts to pick off some of their number. It actually takes a while and the kills are fairly thin on the ground as the killer spends a lot of time hanging around and acting creepy and menacing in the shadows watching the teens. The setting is actually quite good but the building seems like an odd choice for a furniture store- multiple stories, a seemingly labyrinthine layout, a clunky service life. The cat and mouse stuff is kind of fun. The killer has a penchant for disguise, namely dressing in the clothing of his victims in order to lure the others to their deaths. He particularly favours the woman's clothing, making use of the wigs from the store manikins, and at one point puts on the lacy black lingerie one of the girls had brought to surprise her boyfriend. Needless to say he is surprised. Just another thing you will never see Jason or Michael ever doing. For the most part he keeps to the shadows and when we do get a good look at him in the climax he is again wearing a lot of makeup and in S&M getup. He is certainly one of the more memorable killers from a generic eighties slasher.

To the films credit once it hits the fan and the teens realise what is happening they act in a reasonable manner for this kind of movie. They actually stay as a group and don't split up, even the more panicky ones don't completely spaz out and run off on their own at any point, and try to get out of the building. Despite a few bad decisions they do behave in a fairly rational manner for characters in this kind of dreck. The conclusion is over a bit too quickly and there is a very predictable 'twist'.

On the whole Hide and Go Shriek is an amusing runaround if you're in the mood for a cheesy and derivative eighties slasher. It has all the components you could ask for- gore, cheesy synth music (Reminded me of the works of John Carpenter), bad acting, gratuitous nudity, eighties fashion victims and a memorable and hammy bad guy.

Hide and Go Shriek is your routine slasher, but better than you might expect. A group of kids decide to sneak into a giant furniture store to have a little party, drink some beer, and have some sex. Well they're not alone and one by one they start to disappear. This flick is above average for its genre and has a pretty weird slasher, his motive is at least one of a kind. I'd say check it out.

If you saw CHOPPING MALL, you'll don't have to watch HIDE AND GO SHRIEK (HAGS). It's basically the same thing: horny teens sneak in a large furniture department store and stay there for the night, having sex on the many beds on display. Instead of killer robots, HAGS has a killer transvestite. The killer's storyline is not to be believed. It's basically about an ex-con and his prison bitch, the latter killing the teens because he thinks they'll get in the way of their love. Yep, major eye rolling!!!

The acting is bad. One of the characters, played by Bunky Jones I believe, has a nervous breakdown when the killings start. Someone should have killed her right on the spot instead. The cinematography is horrendous. Everything is the dark so you don't see what's going on half of the time. Everyone is nude or undresses at one point during the entire movie. This usually doesn't bother me but I definitely didn't want to see that 14 year old boy in his underwear. Yikes. The music was terrible. Zero atmosphere or style. Good title though.

The only reason I watched this is because I'm a horror film completist. If you're not then you definitely do not have to watch this boring movie. Watch CHOPPING MALL.

Group of teens(forming four boyfriend-girlfriend couple), just recently graduated from high school, decide to stay overnight in a furniture store to have a little sex, but have no clue that a killer awaits them..a transvestite psycho at that! The film opens the door that a recently released con, who needed a job and place to stay, is bedding in a room on the bottom floor. John(Sean Kanan)is the son of the furniture store's owner and takes the rest on a tour of the massive multi-floored building with it's bevy full of mannequins creating a creepy decor. When asked why his father would have all these mannequins stored throughout, John says it makes the customers feel that someone's always at home. So anytime a teen bumps into a mannequin, they jump because you never know if it is someone with flesh not plastic. They keep the lights off so that no one will spot them inside fooling around which even increases the danger and scary-factor of the mannequins for they are always there popping up when the characters come around corners. They decide to play a game of hide-and-seek within the furniture store while also taking time out to have sexual relations in the numerous beds on the different floors available to them. This furniture store becomes a playground for the killer as he can come upon them unannounced, often hiding within the mannequins in the darkness. What's his purpose for killing them? You have to see it to believe it! It's absolutely an outrageous reason.

Gloriously lame late-80's cheese-ball slasher with hammy overacting by the young cast made with style thanks to the darkened, enormous setting inside the huge furniture store. Multi-levels provides plenty of room for the killer to hide and attack his prey. The idea that he is amongst them without their knowledge also allows a slow build-up until he strikes. Not very gory, but still a blast if you go in not expecting much. I probably enjoyed this one a bit more than I should have.

Yes, it's another (belated) slasher film, and not the worst of its type, actually. It has at least SOME believable characters (though a few are poorly played), and for a while it's fun just trying to predict who's gonna die first and who will be the ultimate survivor(s). The resolution is dumb, though, and the ending is even dumber. Devoted slasher fans may want to check it out, but just wait until it's shown on TV, don't rush out for it. (**)