If you like good old-fashioned thrillers, you will love Hide and Seek.

This movie is about a 9-year-old, Emily Callaway, played by the fabulous Dakota Fanning and her father Doctor David Callaway, played by Robert DiNero, who are trying to pull their lives back together in the wake of their mother/wife’s suicide.

After a big move out of New York City and into the country, Dr. Callaway hopes that a change of scenery will benefit his daughter who is having a rough time coping with her mother’s death. Emily, who is very distant towards her father, along with everyone else, begins acting very peculiar. She keeps to herself and wants nothing to do with anyone.

Strange things start to happen. With each event, Emily blames her new friend Charlie, who she claims she plays games with. When Emily refuses to let her father meet Charlie, Dr. Callaway blows this off as simply an imaginary friend that his hurt and confused daughter has created in order to vent her frustrations.

As the movie continues, the so called games that Emily and Charlie play are starting to get out of control. Emily’s favorite game, Hide and Seek, begins to have eerie and deadly consequences.

Dr. Callaway, who is a renowned psychologist, contacts a former student, Katherine, played by Famke Janssen, who is also Emily’s doctor. Katherine comes for a visit and is very concerned about the nine-year-old and insists that she come back to New York with her for an evaluation. Dr. Callaway, even though extremely worried, refuses, claiming Emily just needs more time.

The dramatic twist unfolds at the end when Dr. Callaway realizes that Charlie is not make believe and in fact very real.

I think that the great acting in this movie, along with an unheard of twist make it better than your typical scary movie. Robert DeNiro is always awesome and Dakota Fanning was astonishingly great.

I stayed on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie and left the theater shocked. I would definitely recommend this movie and give it 4 out of 5 stars. This thriller is a must see for horror film lovers.