Hide and Go Shriek

Hide and Go Shriek (also known as Close Your Eyes and Pray in the United Kingdom)[1] is a 1988 American slasher film directed by Skip Schoolnik in his directorial debut, and starring Bunky Jones, Annette Sinclair, Brittain Frye, Donna Baltron, George Thomas, and Sean Kanan in his film debut. The story details a group of teenagers who celebrate their graduation by staying the night inside a furniture store, where they are stalked and murdered by a cross-dressing killer during a game of hide and go seek.

Hide and Go Shriek
Directed bySkip Schoolnik
Produced byDimitri Villard
Written byMichael Kelly
StarringBunky Jones
Brittain Frye
George Thomas
Donna Baltron
Music byJohn Ross
CinematographyEugene Shlugleit
Edited byTim Alexander
Mark Manos
Amy Tompkins
Adam Wolfe
Distributed byNew Star Entertainment
Release date
  • November 1, 1988 (1988-11-01)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The movie begins with a well-dressed man applying women's make-up in an old and dingy apartment. The man picks up a prostitute on the street, and while having sex with her in an alley, he stabs her to death.

Four couples - Judy and David, John and Bonnie, Randy and Kim, and Shawn and Melissa - have just graduated from high school and are preparing to sneak into a furniture store owned by John's father, Phil. Arriving before the store closes, the teenagers hide as Phil closes up. Unbeknownst to them, Fred - an employee there - is an ex-convict living in the basement of the store.

The teenagers begin to drink beer and party as John gives them a tour of the entire store. He advises them not to move anything and to keep the lights switched off, so as not to get caught. Kim suggests playing hide-and-go-seek. The group agrees, but force Kim to be it. John and Bonnie use the game to have sex, unaware of a shadowy figure watching them. Kim eventually finds the two and declares them it. During the second round, Melissa and Shawn decide to have sex. She leaves to change into a negligee given to her by Kim. In the bathroom, an attacker forces her head into the sink, drowning her. After some time, Shawn grows impatient and goes to find Melissa. A figure dressed in the negligee runs past him in the dark. Shawn follows and runs into the killer, who lifts him off the ground and impales him on a trident-like decoration.

At midnight, the remaining six regroup to eat dinner, all concerned about Shawn and Melissa's whereabouts. The group searches everywhere, but are unable to find them. They get annoyed when they find multiple mannequins and furniture disarranged, thinking that the pair is playing a joke. The couples go to bed, frustrated with the mess.

As John and Bonnie are having sex, a man dressed in Shawn's clothes enters the room. He whistles and makes some impolite gestures to them. He runs away as a furious John chases after him. Upon reaching the second floor, John sees a man in a blonde wig applying make-up. They start a fight, but the killer finally impales a mannequin's arm through John's stomach, killing him. Bonnie becomes anxious waiting and hides under the bed as she sees a figure entering and then leaving the room.

Meanwhile, Judy decides to lose her virginity to David. As Randy and Kim sleep, Kim wakes up and goes to the bathroom. After being attacked by the killer, she attempts to escape in the store elevator, but the killer catches up with her and jumps into the elevator with her. Kim's scream wakes up Randy. He tries to find her but bumps into a distraught Bonnie, who tells him that John has gone missing.

Randy and Bonnie wake up Judy and David. They take the elevator down to the ground floor and don't know that Kim has been bound and gagged right on the top. They see a figure dressed in Kim's clothes but realize that's an imposter. The group calls the police, but find the phone line cut and all exits chained shut. They begin to panic and try to get the attention of a vagabond, then a passing cop car, but to no avail. Judy attempts to turn the lights on to draw attention, but the power is suddenly cut, sending the emergency lights on. Bonnie notices a door and believes it to be a way out, only to discover the dead bodies of their friends inside. The teenagers arm themselves with weapons, ready to fight back. Outside, a shopkeeper notices them in the store and calls the cops to report an intrusion.

Fred appears, and the survivors knock him unconscious and tie him up, believing him to be the killer. The group gets in the elevator but hears Kim beating on the top. Kim manages to free her arms and legs before leaning down from the top to call for help. The killer holds her head out of the elevator. Judy fails to stop the elevator, and Kim is eventually decapitated.

The survivors retreat to a bedroom. The killer attacks the group and slashes Randy across the chest. As he tries to attack again, Fred appears and tackles the killer, who is revealed to be Zack, Fred's gay lover from prison. Zack tells Fred that he killed the teenagers as he thought they were coming between him and Fred. Fred is repulsed and rejects Zack, offending him. Zack attacks Fred and stabs him in the neck with a knife. Judy lunges forward to slash Zack with a razor. Zack leaps back and stumbles over Kim's severed head before falling down the empty elevator shaft. After that, the police and Phil arrive. As Phil asks Fred what had happened, Fred succumbs to his wounds and dies.

The surviving teenagers are checked over by paramedics before leaving the store and getting into an ambulance. However, the group doesn't know that Zack somehow survives the fall and kills the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). In the final scene, Zack turns out to be driving the ambulance. He looks directly at the camera as an evil smile spreads across his lips.

Cast
  • Bunky Jones as Bonnie Williams
  • Brittain Frye as Randy Flint
  • Annette Sinclair as Kim Downs
  • George Thomas as David Hanson
  • Donna Baltron as Judy Ramerize
  • Scott Fults as Shawn Phillips
  • Ria Pavia as Melissa Morgan
  • Sean Kanan as John Robbins
  • Scott Kubay as Zack
  • Jeff Levine as Fred
  • Michael Kelly as the alley Wino
  • Ron Colby as Phil Robbins
  • Donald Mark Spencer as Vince
  • James Serrano and Lyons as the cops in the police car
  • Robin Turk as the prostitute in the opening scene
  • Joe White as the man behind the newsstand

Production

Production was shot inside an abandoned warehouse in downtown Los Angeles for approximately three weeks in the summer of 1987. According to an interview with Skip Schoolnik relating to the film on a website, the budget was believed to be below $300,000. Michael Kelly, who wrote the screenplay, appears in a brief cameo as an alley wino.

Screaming Mad George was hired for the film's special effects. Actress Annette Sinclair was asked to do the make-up on the plaster cast of her head, whose character is decapitated by an elevator, so that it matched her actual make-up.

Release

The film was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 1, 1988 by New Star Entertainment, which has its violence trimmed in order to receive an R rating.

Home media

Hide and Go Shriek was released unrated on VHS by New Star Video and New World Video respectively in 1989, as well as on LaserDisc by Image Entertainment.[2][3][4] In the United Kingdom, it was marketed as Close Your Eyes and Pray for its home video release, which was shorn of fifty seconds.[1]

The film was initially released on DVD in the United Kingdom by Bellevue Entertainment A/S on July 22, 2004, under its original title.[5] Scanbox Entertainment issued another DVD in Region 2, and was included in a 'Platinum Collection' with Dolly Dearest, Inner Sanctum 2, and Dark Breed.[6][7] Hide and Go Shriek was released by Code Red on Blu-ray for the first time on December 3, 2016,[lower-alpha 1] with a remastered 2K scan from the original internegative, and was followed by a DVD release by Kino Lorber on May 30, 2017.[8][9] The same year, 88 Films released the film on dual Blu-ray and DVD format in the United Kingdom on July 10, which was subsequently reissued on Blu-ray on February 11, 2019.[10][11]

Notes
  1. Blu-ray.com noted the release to be December 3, 2016.

References
  1. "Close Your Eyes and Pray (18)". British Board of Film Classification. February 9, 1988. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  2. "Hide and Go Shriek". VHSCollector. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  3. "Hide and Go Shriek". VHSCollector. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  4. "Hide & Go Shriek". Laserdisc Database. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  5. "Hide and Go Shriek (18)". British Board of Film Classification. July 22, 2004. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  6. "Hide And Go Shriek [DVD]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  7. "Platinum Horror Collection: Hide And Go Shriek, Dolly Dearest, Inner Sanctum 2, Dark Breed". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  8. "Hide and Go Shriek [Blu-ray]". Amazon.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  9. "Hide and Go Shriek [DVD]". Amazon.com. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  10. "Hide and Go Shriek [Dual Format]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  11. "Hide and Go Shriek [Blu-Ray]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
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