Yet, Emily states that she doesn't need any more friends since she now has Charlie. David believes she's created a make-believe friend and Katherine confirms that's a usual childhood coping mechanism. Even so, Emily's behavior continues to worsen, including toward their married neighbors Laura (MELISSA LEO) and Steven (ROBERT JOHN BURKE), and even Sheriff Hafferty (DYLAN BAKER), but especially toward Elizabeth who's become friendly with David. As odd, creepy and eventually dangerous things start occurring around the house and Emily blames them on the never-seen Charlie, David sets out to discover what's really going on.

Methinks that's also a good strategy to deploy in regards to the movie "Hide and Seek." Yet, rather than not looking for the hidden child, it's wise not to search for the twist you automatically know is hiding somewhere near the ending of the film. That's because this is one of those efforts that doles out the chills while painting itself into a corner with no good way out.

Here's the setup: A psychologist moves to upstate New York with his traumatized daughter following the mother's suicide. With few other kids around, the girl seems to have invented a make-believe friend to keep her company. But when creepy things start occurring -- including the father awakening every night at the same time with the caress of a woman's hand who's not there -- he and we figure something is amiss. And since we get to see all of the supernatural style trappings, we're ready for encounters with things that go bump in the night.

Although there are all sorts of creative possibilities and directions in which the story could go from there, novice writer Ari Schlossberg and director John Polson ("Swimfan") apparently watched Stanley Kubrick's masterful "The Shining" one too many times before or while making this picture. From the basic theme to many specific shots and occurrences, the film's theft from and/or homage to that far superior picture ooze from this one faster than the blood flows from the victim's bodies.

While there's no "red rum" bit, ghostly twins or fabulous, big-wheel steadicam shots through a creepy hotel, there are plenty of other moments that are too similar to that previous effort. The beauty of that 1980 film, of course, was the terrific combo of dementia and the supernatural. Here, the film starts off with one and ends with the other, but the results aren't remotely as satisfactory, let alone thrilling or spooky.

And that's despite the requisite "haunted house" material -- the jump scenes, point of view shots, hidden stairwells, and, of course, the obligatory "don't pull back the shower curtain" moments. With those elements and the various clues about the hidden secret, one is obviously apt to try to figure it out, much like in any M. Night Shyamalan film.

Yet, the puzzle isn't as intricately designed as in that filmmaker's better work and the revelation isn't remotely as fun and/or shocking. In other words, you don't need to bring along an extra pair of socks (in the event the ones you're wearing are knocked off).

The filmmakers, however, apparently convinced the cast members otherwise. Making his second straight, suspense-flick disappointment in as many years -- following last year's "Godsend" -- Robert De Niro ("Meet the Fockers," "Shark Tale") plays the father figure. While okay for a while, he just can't do much with the part to make it memorable -- even when taking the twist into consideration -- and pales in comparison to what Nicholson (in "The Shining") and Johnny Depp (in "Secret Widow") did in thematically similar roles.

The same holds true for Dakota Fanning ("Man on Fire," "Uptown Girls") who seems to be having fun -- until the twist -- channeling Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams with a touch of Winona Ryder from "Beetlejuice" thrown in for good measure. The role, of course, isn't remotely comedic, but there are some unintentionally funny bits, particularly as her character gets ever more morose.

Elizabeth Shue ("Hollow Man," "The Saint") and Famke Janssen ("X2," "I Spy") appear in supporting roles, but the script limits their abilities, which also holds true for Dylan Baker ("Kinsey," "Spider-Man 2") as the local sheriff and Amy Irving ("Tuck Everlasting," "Bossa Nova") who's barely in the film despite the tease that she might have more to do with what's occurring than one initially imagines. Melissa Leo ("21 Grams," "The 24 Hour Woman") gets a meatier part as the neighbor who's just lost a child, but that subplot ends up going nowhere.

Which pretty much holds true for the overall film. While there are some initially creepy moments and intriguing raised questions about what's occurring and/or will happen, the lackluster and contrived ending, as well as all of the material copied from "The Shining" means viewers may end up following the first part of the title rather than the second. Not so much bad as disappointing after raising our expectations and then not meeting them, "Hide and Seek" rates as a 4 out of 10.