Hider in the House (1991)

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

What's that creaking coming from the roof? Might just be rats or mice… Might be? "Hider in the House" is all Busey, although Mimi Rogers (who's looking great) is affably strong and classy as lady at the centre of his growing affection. It's the lead performances that go a long way to lifting this old-hat concept out of the average mould, as the direction while competently polished remains routine in its story progression, tension building and visual aspect. Gary Busey playing slightly disturbed… well at least you know you won't be let down. But I might be understating it by stating slightly --- it's unpredictably intense and gleeful, as his psychological torment is perfectly etched out. Bruce Glover also amusingly shows up as a pervert neighbour.Julie and Phi Dryer along with their two young kids have moved into a new house, but unknowingly to them an ex-patient of a mental asylum Tom Sykes has made himself at home in their attic by constructing a secret room. He spies on them, as he sees them as the ideal suburban family he was never apart of it --- due to a terrible past which was the reason for being an intuition. However his obsession for Julie soon sees him wanting to be the husband of the household, as he goes about trying to make this happen while discarding of any threats which could expose him.Busey's character builds somewhat a nest, where he feels secure and protected, where he simply watches (peering into windows while wandering around the house at night) and listens (through a voice com) but when he catches details on how this family isn't all that perfect he gets involved by orchestrating actions which could see him move right in. The initial build-up is where it's at its strongest; at it's compact, gripping and at times atmospheric --- but this seems to fall by the wayside during the second half when he makes himself known to the family. Now it loses its unsettling edge and becomes predictable and silly.

I LOVED this movie because it reminds me of the plot of "Bad Ronald" and it is a good movie to watch while it is raining and if you have ever been in a secret passage in a house. It is a PLAUSIBLE story as Busey is CLEVER in the things he does to delay and prevent his discovery. If is funny in parts because you see the human side and kindness of a man. And you also see the rage welling up inside and his decline & development to more violent acts. The progression of his childhood at the beginning and his falling through the cracks with the psycho-analysis,makes it particularly interesting from a criminal psychiatry standpoint. The drama is intense, especially when an exterminator sprays his area and nearly kills him! the pace is perfect, as his feelings for the wife develop and he eavesdrops enough to cause trouble for the couple he is observing. Great innocence & love for family shown by Mimi Rogers. Great affectionate but desperation acted by Busey.

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.

Hider in the house was to me, bland, unexciting, boring and even a little disturbing. It was totally predictable in every manner and scene. The beginning, when Tom was being abused as a child, was quite disturbing and made me have some sympathy for him. But all in all pretty poor.