Skjult

Hidden is remarkable for its obstinate efforts to scare the viewer every minute from beginning to end, without a break. And it’s quite successful, as long as you don’t realise the messy bollocks you’re watching. Pål Øie should stop writing and stick to directing, where he does a good job. In Dark Woods I didn’t mind the weak plot, basically, the forest and the unknown killer were enough and they managed to fully exploit that (someone else is to blame for the script, Pål is only behind the simple story). Hidden is a completely different thing. It’s evident that their intention was to make a terrifying film with one nightmarish scene after another, but the script unfortunately feels like an inconsistent stew that mixes an incredible number of motifs, with characters behaving only to produce interesting scenes instead of being believable, let alone sensible. I did get scared a couple of times during those 90 minutes, and I appreciated the atmosphere here and there, but the film as a whole felt almost like torture. I can already rank the cruel blond protagonist as the asshole of the year and Hidden as one of the most painful horror experiences, because there’s nothing worse than seeing talent being wasted. (20.10.2009)

I can guess why some people don’t like this film. Øie is a bit of a carbon copy of himself, but he has added to the darkened spruce forests another half-decayed house and unpleasant memories of childhood. The fact that he would try to scare you exactly where you expected didn't bother me. In fact, I enjoyed the good characters, who were vividly written and acted, albeit slightly shrouded in the odor of archetype, as well as the good genre work that consistently avoids gory waterworks. Once again, like in the director's first film, I also enjoyed the consistent work with atmosphere that stands and falls mainly on whether you want to root for the characters or not. Kai Koss is not a nice guy (Kristoffer Joner is a typical gloomy Norwegian), but he scored points with me. As a bonus, it also has a funny point. It's not about what, but about how. (20.12.2009)