A group of teenagers spends the night in a furniture store for a graduation party. A psycho killer starts hunting them down one by one.
“Hide and Go Shriek” recently showed up at Fantastic Fest with a brand-new 4K polish, but, to be honest, I almost missed it entirely—even though I cut my teeth on horror from the ’70s and ’80s. The title sounded like the kind of oddball classic that horror fans trade stories about, but after watching it, I can say it’s more of a curiosity than a lost masterpiece. Calling it a “hidden gem” would be overstating the case; it’s more of a footnote for completists than a must-see for anyone else. There are so many ’80s slashers that deserve a second life—this isn’t one of them.
The set-up is as familiar as they come: four high school couples, fresh out of graduation, looking for a thrill. They sneak into a furniture store where one of the dads is the boss, waiting for closing time in the basement. Once the coast is clear, they emerge, keep the lights off, and kick off the night with some drinks and a round of hide-and-go-seek. The game fizzles out pretty quickly, and soon the group splits off into pairs for some predictable teen romance. That’s when things start to spiral—one by one, they’re picked off in violent, increasingly odd ways, and the survivors are forced to band together as panic sets in.
The only thing that really sets this film apart is how it uses the furniture store. The killer’s trick—blending in with mannequins and lurking in the shadows—injects some genuine unease and gives the movie a little personality. But outside of that, it’s textbook slasher: generic teens, dark corners, a faceless threat. The story leans heavily on clichés from better movies, and the cast struggles to sell even simple lines. Despite the much-touted 4K restoration, the film spends so much time in the dark that any visual upgrade feels wasted. The picture stays muddy, the edits are jarring, and the color range is almost nonexistent.
With a setting like this, the movie could have been a quirky addition to the slasher canon, but the low budget and flat performances make it a slog. Sure, some viewers might find ironic enjoyment in its awkward moments or the throwback to late-‘80s vibes—think big hair, neon, and wall-to-wall synths. Its most infamous scene, a decapitation via freight elevator, misses the mark, coming off clumsy rather than chilling. Unless you’re on a mission to see every last horror oddity from the era, “Hide and Go Shriek” is one you can skip without regret.
“Hide and Go Shriek” is available for pre-order HERE on a 4K Ultra HD™ Deluxe Rigid Box edition.
“Hide and Go Shriek” had its 4K Restoration World Premiere
at Fantastic Fest 2025 on Thursday, September 18th
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