Perfect Hideout - DVD

Movie: Owing all kinds of money to the wrong people, Nick (Cristian Solimeno) really just wants to get out of the country as quickly as possible with his girlfriend Celia (Melinda Y. Cohen). But when Celia's life is threatened, Nick unceremoniously decides to rob a gas station. Using only a candy bar hidden under his jacket seems to be enough to get the money. But then events turn and before Nick knows it, he has shot a policeman. Now Celia and he are not only running from bad guys, but also from the police. They seek shelter in a mansion and take the man of the house (Billy Zane) hostage. Special forces quickly surround the house and tighten the noose around the couple. What they do not yet suspect: the real danger threatens them, however, from inside the house.

That "Perfect Hideout" with a mini-budget in a little more than two weeks in Berlin was shot, the thriller is quite noticeable. Already on the DVD cover some very obvious mistakes have crept in (Nick is not played by Billy Zane but by Cristian Solimeno, there is no audio commentary on the DVD), which suggests that not much effort has really been put into this home cinema premiere. While the film itself obviously strives to make the most of the resources at its disposal and at least provide the viewer with a decent level of entertainment.

Billy Zane ("Titanic") delivers a somewhat over-the-top, but thoroughly fun performance that repeatedly makes it clear that director Stephen Manuel ("Iron Doors") doesn't take his B-movie all that seriously himself. And from the fact that the characters are intentionally just overdrawn clichés who constantly act extremely stupid as intended by the director, the thriller is actually really fun in some moments. However, the whole thing seems so contrived in many places, the dialogues so incredibly clichéd and the resolution of the whole thing forced badly, so that "Perfect Hideout" leaves the viewer rather unsatisfied and bored in the end.

Surely, directing a film like this in such a short amount of time with really little resources is guaranteed not to be easy, and only allows for careful editing to a small degree. And from that point of view, Stephen Manuel has managed a thoroughly decent piece of work. But in the end, "Perfect Hideout" just can't be called a really good movie. Still: if you enjoy somewhat trashy B-thrillers, you'll get your money's worth here based on Billy Zane's good-humoredly nasty performance alone.

Image + Sound: Best audiovisuals should not be expected from a low-budget production like this. At least the picture is clean and mostly sharp, only some details are lost especially in the darker moments. Here and there the action looks a bit washed out, but this is only slightly negative. The sound holds back rather, only occasionally comes through shots and similar sound effects some dynamics into the action.

Extras: Only a slideshow and a few trailers are in the bonus material. The audio commentary announced on the cover, on the other hand, is, as already mentioned, unfortunately not to be found on the DVD. Weak.

Conclusion: "Perfect Hideout" is a B-movie thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously and can even convince really well in some moments. The bottom line, however, is that the weaknesses dominate over the good aspects, making the film just about worth watching only for fans of thrillers of the more trashy kind. The DVD itself is technically quite decent considering the low budget, otherwise the meager bonus material and the incorrect information on the cover are disappointing. Because even low-budget productions should be presented with a little more care

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp