The
Slasher marathon continues with Hide and Go Shriek. This movie is a long
running joke between myself and Tim Gross from Gross Movie Reviews. Years
ago, I asked him what VHS tape I should buy from the piles that he was selling
at a Cinema Wasteland and he pulled this movie from the box and suggested it. I
absolutely hated it and haven’t let him forget about it since. But it is a
Slasher and I haven’t watched it yet for the Blog, so I guess I need to dive
back in and check out the only horror movie I’ve ever seen set in a furniture
store.
Things
start of a guy shaving and putting on makeup. We don’t see his face, but
clearly, he is being setup as our killer. He picks up a hooker and kills her.
Now that we know something is up we are introduced to eight friends who have
just graduated high school. They are headed off to the furniture store owned by
one of their families to spend the night partying without interruption. Yeah,
they are going to get interrupted by the killer for sure.
The kids
run around the enormous store that looks more like a multilevel warehouse
complete with freight elevator. They drink, get naked, do naughty stuff, and
other things that normally get you killed off in a Slasher flick. After way too
long, the killer starts to murder them in increasingly interesting ways. That
isn’t meant as a compliment since the first couple of kills are sort of boring.
More on that later. Eventually they figure out someone is killing their friends
and think that it must be the creepy ex-con Fred. But is it? Come on he is such
an obvious suspect that it can’t be… and isn’t.
Honestly
this isn’t as bad as I thought it was the last time that I watched it. I just
sat thru Humongous
the night before watching Hide and Go Shriek. While I thought nothing happened
in this movie and it was boring having Humongous fresh in my mind I realize
that isn’t the case. It takes far too long for the kills to start in Hide and
Go Shriek, but the last half hour of the movie is pretty entertaining. There is
some stalking, the killer gets a couple funny moments taunting them into
running around the store. The movie also gives us a lot of nudity and
“frolicking” between the cast members before they meet their demise. There are
some traditional Slasher movie tropes here to enjoy which is more than I can
say about Humongous and Island
of Blood, the last two flicks I watched for the Slasher marathon.
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| Watch the movie and you will understand this picture! |
That said
I have a couple of beefs with the movie. First is the fact that they broke the
cardinal rule. Of all the Slasher movies that I’ve watched I don’t think I’ve
ever seen one that leaves so many characters alive at the end. Of the eight
kids that go into the store four of them live! That isn’t nearly the body count
that I want in a movie like this. Trim the slow middle part of the movie and
kill off another couple kids! The other issue is I don’t like the twist with
the killer. Without spoilers the killer’s motivations are a bit wonky and dumb.
I love how he is portrayed on screen, but wish they gave him better motivation
for the killing.
Finally,
we get to the gore. For most of the movie there really isn’t much. There is a
stabbing, a mannequin arm thru the chest, and a spike tossing that all happen
off screen with a bit of blood trickling out of the mouth. Being made in the
late eighties I’m assuming they didn’t want to push their luck and get it cut
anyway. But I still find this disappointing. But Hide and Go Shriek does have
that one signature kill that they do a decent job with. Decapitation by
elevator onscreen complete with a latex noggin’ rolling around. Now that was
pretty cool.
I still
don’t love Hide and Go Shriek, but it isn’t nearly as bad as I remember it.
Then again, my opinion might be different because I subjected myself to so many
terrible movies since watching this the first time. If you are looking to watch
a Slasher movie and have seen most of the top tier flicks like Friday the 13th
and the Burning then this one is maybe worth checking out. Not as good as those
but worth a watch.
© Copyright 2018 John Shatzer
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