Hide and Seek (2016) User Reviews

A psychopath and her broken story

[qinree · 5/10 · 28 June 2017]

In China, ghosts and souls are not allowed to exist in movies. So when you want to make a horror film, it has to be a dream or illusion. This movie is about a psycho's strange behaviors and other's nightmare.

To keep the movie scary, the story is told out of rules intentionally, while there is nothing shocked physically or mentally. Audiences are in a fog from A to Z, wondering what the director wanna to tell them.

Hailu Qin did the best job, but also played for play. At the end of the movie, there're no more connections among different roles. Every role just got back to their own life and fight. It's hard to understand because it's psycho's world. The writer should not make easy money.

The horror is an important part of movie family. It asks the least from the film industry for its low cost most time. The horror movie should fill the atmosphere with scary, instead of sudden horrible scenes and screams.

Hope the horror movie become the typical example of Chinese film "industry".

Wasted potential. Watch for annoyance.

[tea_in_a_cup · 2/10 · 3 August 2020]

The story has potential. The set-up was suspenseful. A man and his family are seemingly stalked by his ex-convicted older brother, who is coming for revenge. Woven into the story is not just the mystery of who is doing it, but also the mystery of the older brother's innocence.

However, as the story progresses, nothing makes sense. Subplots are created, emphasized, and then abandoned. Viewers are constantly bombarded with scenes that suggest the convicted brother's innocence, clearly left intrigued as to whether he committed the rape or not, but the truth is never revealed. The brother, who has apparently been playing a great role from the start, just suddenly fades into irrelevance. Yes, he is the typical red-herring ever so present in thrillers, but his character's backstory which has been emphasized so many times throughout the movie being abandoned like this is just so vexing.

The real culprit, on the other hand, makes no sense. First, her motive is insane. Second, the fact that she is able to wrestle an adult, well-built man while wearing a heavy helmet that limits her vision and almost wins is absurd.

Additionally, the police and security in this movie do not do their job properly. They receive an emergency phone call reporting an intrusion and arrive at the scene, but instead of breaking down the door, they politely knock and wait patiently outside. What the heck are they waiting for? The culprit to open up and turn themselves in? Similarly, the security sees the culprit walking around in the garage, but instead of rushing down to apprehend the individual, they leave the main character to go down by himself, sit back and enjoy the fight.

So underrated and really worth watching!

[Piveskid · 8/10 · 30 August 2018]

I couldn't take my eyes of the screen. The movie surprised me in many ways which I find rare after watching a lot of movies. It's a horror/thriller but very realistic and that makes it scarier for me. Everything is well played and believable. Enjoy!

Excellent!!

[sofaki56 · 9/10 · 20 August 2018]

Very good filming...Chinese production ,more than i expected!!

Great thriller

[jtrank-75214 · 9/10 · 10 March 2019]

Great suspenseful thriller. Story was great however this movie proves the cops or security are completely worthless.

Thriller with intentional twists.

[cB391 · 8/10 · 10 July 2019]

The path is misdirection and new unveils. This is the similar set-up for most mystery, suspense, who-dun-it style films.

This is a great example of cultural critique mixed in with a film to point out the differences in living standards, legal procedures etc. Very interesting film based on its delivery. Is available on netflix with subtitles and dubs if needed. There are some moments where you question the characters's decisions, but otherwise, this is an enjoyable film. Much better than most I have seen recently

Another type of thriller

[phebychow · 9/10 · 29 July 2020]

First of all I don't know why the rating is so low. Indeed I enjoyed very much. It is the remake of the Korean movie released in 2013 and the story is said to be based on real social situation though I am not sure. I didn't watch the original but I feel this one is full of surprises that I never expected so far. It's not like the traditional thriller which is hundred times better than those ghosty and creepy Hollywood movies. There are few scenes that I felt horrified like the girl is threaten inside a car, the helmet guy appears and strongly knocks the door... As an audience, I feel excited to watch how this story develops step by step, and finally presents an unexpected ending.

Very Good...

[RosanaBotafogo · 8/10 · 27 July 2020]

Good Chinese suspense, with the ingredients I love, cute children, secrets of the past, guilt, some things were poorly explained, or I got lost along the way, for example the elder brother's guilt or innocence, but apart from these details, the tension becomes convincing, mainly because they always involve children, as in a game of tag and pick-up... Very good...