"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Sadly, when the final audacious twist of this atmospheric suspense-thriller does indeed 'come out', plausibility stays firmly in hiding.

The tension, which director John Polson and screenwriter Ari Schlossberg have stoked so impressively for 90 minutes, dissipates in an instant.

Hide And Seek is not so much this year's The Sixth Sense as The Nonsense.

Following the sudden death of his wife Alison (Amy Irving), brilliant psychologist David Callaway (Robert De Niro) elects to move from Manhattan to a rented house in an eerie upstate New York town.

David hopes to distance his young daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning) from the tragic memories of the past so they can begin afresh.

The girl is deeply traumatised by her mother's passing and seeks solace in the invention of an imaginary friend called Charlie.

At first, David sees Charlie as a positive outlet for Emily's emotions; a way for the child to express herself in troubled times.

His colleague, child psychologist Katherine (Famke Janssen), agrees: "It's not unusual for a child to create an imaginary friend," she reassures him.

However, the invisible entity's hold on Emily tightens and David begins to suspect that Charlie might in fact be a flesh-and-blood malevolent presence.

When Emily begins blaming Charlie for angry graffiti on the bathroom wall and a series of increasingly nightmarish acts, David fears he is losing his child too.

Little does he realise the terrifying truth...

Hide And Seek begins so well, conjuring an air of impending doom, accentuated by director of photography Darius Wolski's clever use of shadows and light.

Screenwriter Schlossberg populates the local community with shady characters including a creepy town sheriff (Dylan Baker) and next-door neighbours Laura (Melissa Leo) and Steven (Robert John Burke), who take an unhealthy interest in Emily.

De Niro is his usual strident self, drawing us gradually into his freaky predicament, and Fanning dazzles, alternating between emotional wreck and demonic spawn.

Like when her father asks a local woman, Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue), to dinner and Emily sabotages the occasion by refusing to eat her favourite meal and insulting their guest.

"Let's just hope you don't end up like her!" she snarls menacingly, referring to her dead mother.

All of the cast and crew's efforts come to nought in the final act when taut suspense gives way to cheesy horror hokum.

The hammy histrionics recall De Niro's last foray into white-knuckle territory, the clunky cloning thriller Godsend.

Perhaps he should stick to comedies from now on.

Rating 5/10