Hide and Seek - No Escape - DVD

Film: Sung-soo (Son Hyun-Joo) leads a happy life with his wife Min-ji (Jeon Mi-seon) and his two children Ho-se and Soo-ah. Although he is constantly plagued by nightmares and suffers from extreme neurosis, Sung-soo definitely doesn't want to miss his life of prosperity. But the neat facade he has painstakingly built up threatens to shatter when he receives the news that his brother, whose existence he has kept secret even from Min-ji, has disappeared without a trace. In the run-down apartment complex where the ex-convict has been living for the last while, Sung-soo sets out to find clues to his brother's whereabouts. However, except for extremely secretive neighbors and strange signs on each of the apartments, he finds out nothing. But he has no idea that by visiting the apartment block he has put himself and his family in the greatest danger. When the mysterious signs also appear on his luxury apartment, horror descends on the family idyll...

Hide and Seek - No Escape is a gripping thriller that draws much of its suspense from its menacing and very dark underlying atmosphere. After a very oppressive intro, director Huh Jung first slows down the pace considerably. But that doesn't diminish the tension, which increases more and more after about half of the running time. Huh Jung succeeds very well in varying the motifs of common home invasion thrillers in such a way that the viewer is skillfully misled until the last act, despite some clear clues. The identity of the motorcycle helmet-wearing killer seems clear pretty quickly. But even though the resolution was prepared very obviously in retrospect, it still makes for a really well done surprise.

This is quite a small feat due to the fact that Huh Jung actually sticks very closely to the rules of the genre. The story, which is based on a true incident, is very cleverly constructed, which isn't really noticeable at first due to the very slow narrative pace. But when you start to think about the individual set pieces at the end, it becomes clear how well the individual pieces of the puzzle fit together here into a gripping whole.

Hide and Seek - No Escape is not necessarily something for fans of action or extremely bloody thrillers. But if you like dark atmospheric psychological thrillers and for whom long takes and few dialogues are not synonymous with boredom, this South Korean home invasion thriller of a different kind can be warmly recommended. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD pleases with a decent overall sharpness and a very atmospheric color scheme. Moreover, since the black levels and contrasts are well-matched, the oppressive mood of the images can fully unfold. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is primarily dominated by the dialogue and is overall rather unspectacular. In some scenes, however, purposefully used surround effects not only provide a little dynamic in the multichannel sound, but also a pleasant goosebumps for the viewer. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has a nice making of (about 26:33 min.), as well as a brief look behind the scenes (about 2:57 min.) to offer. Worth watching!

Conclusion: Hide and Seek - No Escape is an atmospheric psychological thriller that manages to build gripping tension despite its rather leisurely pace. This succeeds director Huh Jung through an oppressive basic atmosphere and a twisty story that can convince until the finale. A somewhat different home invasion thriller, which can be recommended not only to lovers of Korean suspense cinema. The DVD is technically well done and also has a making of worth seeing. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp