All these professional film critics. Oye. Gimme a break. Although they may make intellectual sense sometimes losing the point of a movie as escapism misses the enjoyment that could be... why so much dissection. Of course it's no Witness for the Prosecution or The Shining. But it's edge-of-seat creepy and it twists right to the end. Predictable maybe. But it's still engrossing. I'm not an idiot I love 12 Angry Men for a script and a brilliance in acting that runs circles around something like this. Or something like Fatal Attraction I know great from good from good to mediocre. This barely makes it to the last except it's worth the ride. Why analize a roller coaster if it 'works'. This is no masterpiece but it works. Enjoy the creeps!

I'm not the greatest figurer out of plot twists, and I didn't figure this one out. If you did, then I can see that there would have been an air of disappointment over that aspect of the film. I didn't so, plot-wise, I had no problem with enjoying the movie.

I thought the ending was fine.

And, as usual, I thought Dakota Fanning was quite remarkable, holding the screen with an assurance well beyond her years (although I find her manner in the "Making of.." documentaries worryingly un-childlike).

I did have some other problems, though.

De Niro's character must have been the worst psychologist in the world, given his complete inability to apply any of his knowledge to dealing with his daughter's problem in any constructive way (and, yes, I know "That's because blah blah blah", but it's still a distraction when you're sitting there watching him to fail utterly to exercise a shred of competence.

I failed to understand some of the child's motivation for her actions and attitudes vis-a-vis Charlie and Dad, especially given the nature of the twist.

Elisabeth Shue and Famke Janssen - nice to see them, even if only briefly.

And De Niro - not your finest hour, Bob. Carry on like this, and Norton and Depp will be fighting over the "Greatest Living Screen Actor" crown, while you watch from the wings.

My score of 7 is a point or two higher than it would otherwise have been, solely on the strength of Dakota Fanning's performance.

HIDE AND SEEK is a creepy psychological horror starring Robert De Niro, cast against type as a psychologist and family man, who goes to live in a new rural home along with his daughter Dakota Fanning after his wife's tragic suicide.

The film has much in common with the current run of haunted house flicks like SINISTER and MAMA, in that it focus exclusively on building a tense atmosphere with suggestions of the supernatural. You can tell through the presence of muddled flashbacks that there's going to be a twist at the climax, and sure enough in the last half hour things go in a very different (and, it has to be said, disappointing) direction. The reason for the disappointment? It all gets very over the top and Hollywood-ised, in the worst way.

Until that point, the film isn't bad, but it is a bit dull. De Niro is at his best when he plays angry or psychotic, but his character is rather dull here for the most part. He's still the best thing in it, however. I found the casting of Dakota Fanning a real mis-step, given that she fails to elicit the least bit of sympathy for her irritating character. The supporting cast are quite good, including a strong Famke Janssen, an almost unrecognisable Amy Irving (from CARRIE) and a youthful-looking Elizabeth Shue. But it's not enough to change HIDE AND SEEK from being anything but a distinctly average movie.