''Cord'' (also released as ''Hide and Seek'') is a

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Sidney J. Furie Sidney Joseph Furie (born February 28, 1933) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his extensive work in both British and American cinema between the 1960s and early 1980s. Like his contemporaries Norman Jewison ...

and starring

Daryl Hannah Daryl Christine Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her screen debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film '' The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various movies across the years, i ...

Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sat ...

Bruce Greenwood Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He is known for his role as the American president John F. Kennedy in '' Thirteen Days,'' for which he won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion ...

, and

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...

Plot

After struggling with infertility, Anne (Daryl Hannah) finally succeeds in getting pregnant through

invitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...

with her husband Jack (Bruce Greenwood). However, one night, Anne awakens to discover a masked intruder in her room. Terrified, Anne tries to escape, but the intruder chloroforms her into unconsciousness, rendering her helpless as he kidnaps her and takes her to an isolated house. In the morning, Anne finds herself held captive by a couple named Frank (Vincent Gallo) and Helen (Jennifer Tilly). Helen has gone mad after her baby was aborted by Frank upon learning that it would have been born deformed. The procedure left her sterile, and he is now attempting to make it up to her by giving her Anne's baby. Anne recognizes Frank as a technician at her fertility clinic, and Helen later tells her that he secretly replaced her fertilized egg with one of Helen's instead. Frank stages a car accident with a horribly burned body to make everyone believe Anne is dead; Jack refuses to accept it and pressures the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

to continue investigating, but after several months they dismiss his ideas. After dealing with several escape attempts, Frank finds himself frustrated both with Helen's bipolar insanity and her refusal to have sex with him while she is "pregnant", and he attempts to force himself on Anne before being interrupted by Helen. Frank chases Anne outdoors while Helen terrorizes a

diaper A diaper /ˈdaɪpə(r)/ (American and Canadian English) or a nappy ( Australian English, British English, and Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate Defecation (or defaecation) follows dig ...

service saleswoman. Subsequently, Frank attempts a forcible

amniocentesis Amniocentesis is a medical procedure used primarily in the prenatal diagnosis of genetic conditions. It has other uses such as in the assessment of infection and fetal lung maturity. Prenatal diagnostic testing, which includes amniocentesis, is ne ...

, against Helen's wishes, and during the argument he lets it slip that he never switched her eggs. Helen snaps; she kills, dismembers, and cooks Frank's body. Her increasing madness leads her to threaten Anne with a

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

, and Anne finally manages to escape. She calls Jack from a nearby

phone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

, but Helen runs it down with her truck in the middle of the call. Although she chases and shoots at Anne, Anne cuts her face with broken glass and runs, collapsing on the roadside where she is found by a local teenager. The police still refuse to believe Jack's story, even after seeing the damage to the phone booth, so Jack travels to the house Anne described, only to be ambushed by Helen with a

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...

. Helen then kills a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

at the hospital and again kidnaps Anne to force her into having the baby. Helen decides to allow her to have a natural birth rather than a C-section, but Anne manages to break free, and after a violent struggle she wraps one of her chains around Helen's neck and strangles her. Helen rises up for one final shot but misses and dies. As the police take Helen's body away, Anne emerges from the house with Jack and her new baby.

Reception

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

from

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

gave the film a very bad review, stating: "Director Sidney J. Furie's (Ladybugs, Iron Eagle 4) latest is bereft of suspense, but so full of embarrassing low points that it's impossible to single out just one. Who could choose between seeing Hannah force-fed against her will through a tube and watching Tilly yell at the grotesque doll baby she's attached to her stomach to simulate pregnancy? For that matter, who could choose between Gallo forcing a very-pregnant Hannah to run in front of his tractor as exercise and Tilly threatening to perform a makeshift caesarian on Hannah with a pair of sharp scissors? It all adds up to one of the most deeply unpleasant films in recent memory, ineptly executed schlock that's as fun to watch as videotaped footage of terrified real-life hostages blankly reiterating their captors' demands." ''Mitch'' from "The Video Vacuum" gave it two stars and wrote: "Hide and Seek has a solid enough premise. It's just that the script plays all its cards too soon and things fizzle out long before the finale. Fans of Tilly will want to check it out just to see her do her thing, but all in all, it's not worth seeking out."

References

External links

* {{Sidney J. Furie 2000 films 2000 thriller films Canadian thriller films Fetal abduction in fiction Films directed by Sidney J. Furie 2000s pregnancy films Trimark Pictures films Canadian pregnancy films 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films