Hide and Seek from Bunee Tomlinson on Vimeo.
So this weeks film is a bit intense – simple, but intense. While at first the film just seems to be a thriller, a story quickly develops into something far deeper about the inner psyche. The general story is overdone.[SPOILER ALERT] A man having to come face to face with his past may be cliché, and having it be the fact that he killed his wife will driving under the influence is almost too much for me to bear, but the production quality is quite good.
A classic move in film making is to set off an imaginary part of a world by either using a series of different color grading techniques or simply over-exposing the image. While he does this slightly throughout the film, its subtle and used for emphasis rather than to carry the story. Everything that is actually pertinent is shot beautifully and about as realistically as film making can get. Now, why do I like this so much? Well, when you finally realize that he is in either rehab or a mental institution it shocks you that much more. Had Director Bunee Tomlinson chosen to throw a whole bunch of grading effects across the entire film, the ending would have lost all of its punch.
Now, the key to any thriller really is the soundtrack. A horror movie with just visuals really isn’t that scary. Our minds are tuned to register certain frequencies as bad, so while silence can be uncomfortable, it can never really frighten us at the psychological level as a soundtrack suck as Hide and Seek‘s can. The high pitched buzz over the low pitched oscilator is rather effective.
On top of everything else, Tomlinson evokes Stanley Kubriks The Shining with the way his two kids stand next to each other at the minute ten mark. Love it!
All in all, Hide and Seek is a terrific production and has found its way into numerous film festivals over the last year. Hopefully we will be seeing some awesome films come out of Tomlinson in the next few years to come!
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