Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Hide and Go Shriek Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 12, 2017

Slasher cinema arrives at one of its stranger settings in 1988’s “Hide and Go Shriek,” which details a murderous rampage inside a furniture showroom. The production wins points for originality, and commercial spaces are rarely utilized for the distribution of nightmare imagery, watching director Skip Schoolnik labor to transform a static location into a proper house of horror. The effort is noticeable, and “Hide and Go Shriek” manages to hit a few high points of suspense without completely falling apart, but sweat stains remain, often catching Schoolnik struggling to keep the picture on the move.

It’s graduation time for a pack of high school seniors, and what better way to celebrate the start of their future than an overnight party inside a furniture showroom owned by a parent. The evening promises plenty of camaraderie and, of course, sex, giving the adolescents time to sleep with each other, with a few feeling virginal anxiety as they shed their inhibitions. However, panic is gradually introduced to the gang once they realize a killer is on the loose inside the building, picking them off one-by-one. The survivors attempt to escape, fearing the source of the murderous rampage is recent parolee and store clerk who’s taken up residence in the basement.

“Hide and Go Shriek” isn’t rocket science. It details the excitement of young characters who’ve finally made their way out of high school, ready to take on all the carnal delights of adulthood, using the evening as a testing ground for coupling. Schoolnik keeps up with genre requirements, offering plenty of nudity and goofy characters living it up in the party zone, building a bubble of cheeriness and lust that’s eventually popped by evil, emerging here in the form of an easily seen but unidentified creeper who enjoys a non-binary existence, tearing around the showroom on a quest to slaughter the revelers before dawn breaks. It’s sex, murder, and chases, following most characters to their doom, which is nudged along by a few gore zone visits, including one that actually makes use of a furniture display.

Hide and Go Shriek Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.73:1 aspect ratio) presentation is billed as a "Brand new 2K scan of the original InterNeg," giving "Hide and Go Shriek" a chance to replicate its original theatrical look. The effort is already rough around the edges, with some jumpy reel changes, and the viewing experience isn't very comfortable and communicative, offering blurriness that doesn't mesh particularly well with the feature's parade of skin and violence, and facial particulars aren't satisfactory, battling significant cinematographic limitations. "Hide and Go Shriek" mostly takes place in the dark, and delineation survives to the best of its ability, rarely solidifying. Color is also limited, but hues on outfits and location decoration come through as intended. Grain is heavier but filmic.

Hide and Go Shriek Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix is certainly muted a bit by age-related issues. It lacks precision, but it handles adequately, offering intelligible dialogue exchanges that are often challenged by iffy sound recording. Pops are common throughout the listening event. Music isn't dominant, but scoring sets the chiller mood. Sound effects are acceptable.

Hide and Go Shriek Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (20:38, HD) with director Skip Schoolnik discusses his hasty hiring, suddenly in charge of putting an extremely low-budget movie together in matter of weeks, cracking the whip on a crew that was occasionally slow to maintain his vision. The helmer highlights his cast, including Annette Sinclair, who was dating rocker Bob Segar at the time, and he wasn't delighted with the groping aspects of the picture, even calling Schoolnick to share his displeasure. The director also tracks his television career, sharing tales of his time on "Legends," "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction," and his involvement in the first season of "The Walking Dead," which resulted in friction with producer Gale Anne Hurd.

• Interview (5:23, HD) with Jeff Levine is a brief overview of his participation in "Hide and Go Shriek," but the actor not terrific with memory, lacking the sort of anecdotes that typically make these chats so much fun. Levine is a character, trailing off into an intense discussion of CGI overkill in today's movies, and there's a short summary of additional work, in pictures such as "Barracuda" and "Lucky Stiff." Again, there's not much here that's informative outside of a few production details.

• Interview (12:38, HD) with Dimitri Villard is a more direct conversation about the creation of "Hide and Go Shriek," which was part of the producer's plan to crank out low-budget genre titles for a growing video market. Villard is candid about the business side of moviemaking, with dreams to become the next Roger Corman, only to end up with financial problems during a troubled library acquisition. The producer also discusses his cast, bringing up the Bob Segar connection (this appears to have been a big deal back in the 1980s), and the rise of his New Star Video label, which "Hide and Go Shriek" was part of. Villard also mentions other professional triumphs, including "Once Bitten" and "Flight of the Navigator," and explores his tentative relationship with the industry, often returning to investment banking when professional options dry up.

• Bonus Unrated Scene (2:33, SD) is pulled from VHS version of "Hide and Go Shriek," detailing an extended and quite effective beheading sequence. Original elements couldn't be found to return it to the feature, leaving this slightly fuzzy look at extra gore the only option for viewing.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:50, SD) is included.

Hide and Go Shriek Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Hide and Go Shriek" isn't a shining example of what the genre's capable of, as frights are limited, with the movie more enjoyable as mild camp with periodic bursts of severity to sober the effort up. It's an entertaining feature, and one that also acts as fun time capsule for the 1980s, in style and attitude. Schoolnik doesn't have enough creative gas to take "Hide and Go Shriek" all the way, but as slashers go, it holds attention with bursts of energy and use of an unusual setting.