Truly Dreadful Film

Really Surprised!

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I can't believe they did it. Mathew Patrick has displayed unremorseful genius with this film. And Busey couldn't have been more amazing had he worn a robe made of lion's skin.This film will frighten you. Not for fear of the unknown though. It will frighten you when you find out that you have less control over your affect than you had imagined. You will be afraid that Busey might be more important to you than seems reasonable. Busey will become your mother -your lover, your son -your daughter. Busey will become the voice in your head that says, "No, I'm not gonna follow the flock anymore." Suspense doesn't begin to categorize this movie. I have never seen anything like it. When Mimi Rogers begins to address the subtle feelings she has for Busey (Tom Sykes), my heart turned into a bird's nest. You just can't help but to pray for the guy. He has more love in him than the ocean has salt. It will be all you can do to keep yourself from tearing out of your clothes and attempting to dive into the screen screaming, "Mimi you fool! He could be yours! You could be his!" The movie leaves me muttled beyond repair. It challenged me. I had a difficult time with it. Busey is beyond finesse here. He is a crescendo of livid soul-searching feeling. He is not acting in Hider in the House, he is astonishing.

This movie steals the main premise from "Bad Ronald" (1974) and some elements from "Black Christmas" (1974 also) but mixes them in a boring manner. Gary Busey delivers a good, believable performance as a psycho. He was abused as a kid so he has some really messed up ideas. This psycho sets in the attic of a new house and spies the family. Soon after he falls in love with the wife and even tries to make "a move" on her. By the way, Mimi Rogers was damn hot in those days.The premise is pretty good but is not correctly used in the movie. In my opinion, the best thing about "Hider In The House" is it's title and Busey's performance. Don't bother looking for this one, it surely will disappoint you. Watch it only if it airs on cable. Don't spend money on this.

Forget the inanity (no thats NOT a typo!) of the plot...a fruitloop living soundlessly in an attic, in a tiny room he built there - EQUALLY soundlessly!......this is a tour-de-force performance from Busey. The most realistic nutter put on screen since Norman Bates! As someone commented, a similar premise to THE STEPFATHER, being the story of a lone weirdo psychotically disposed towards creating the "perfect" family! Busey's deranged Tom Sykes, complete with nervous dysfunctionality is awesome. There are several scenes you feel for the guy and really ache for his solitude and inherent decency! I believe it was his best role and despite the fact the wheels tended to fall off towards the end, as it entered the standard formula "where-do-we-go-from-here" scriptwriters' block, ENOUGH professional work had been witnessed to term this a way better than average thriller! Mimi Rogers always has dignity, class and resolve (well OK she struck-out marrying Tom Cruise arguably) Here, she puts across a sympathetic woman who finds herself in a seriously unwanted position through no fault of her own.Ultimately you'd have to wonder, if despite his mental disturbances, Sykes wouldn't have made a better husband than Phil (McKean) who proves himself the wimpiest womaniser on the block! I was rooting for Busy to take him out big-time!Flawed thriller that should by rights, be rating 6.8 here!

The setup of the plot is very original, but it becomes excruciating to watch Tom Sykes since they reduce his behavior to this one dimensional Jason. To me, the point of the movie was going in the direction of "someone is living in the house, without authorization, lets explore the psychological dimensions of this guys behavior, perhaps there can be some interesting message about human behavior" then they decided to end the whole thing in this lame gun battle, which i felt was a cheap ending to something that could have been more fascinating. Overall, interesting, but no payoff.