The Hidden (1987)

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The Hidden has a promising start. The opening scene reminded me a bit of the iconic scene in They Live! (the one in the bank). The car chase scenes are great and the idea behind what's going on is a good one. It's just that it's all a bit too implausible. Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri don't really have enough chemistry for me either. It gets better though as things build to the climax.

A hidden gem of a 1980s sci-fi/horror film that I probably liked as much as I did because I had such low expectations for it.A menacing alien life form is hopping from Earthling to Earthling and wreaking all sorts of havoc. Kyle MacLachlan is another alien who's on a quest to kill the culprit out of vengeance, and Michael Nouri is the cop he teams up with to do it (thinking he's working with an FBI agent, not an alien). The two leads have a lot of chemistry in this unique buddy cop premise, and the film itself is stylish and crazy entertaining. Its ambitions are low, but it nevertheless manages to boast really good performances and a sure grasp of the genre. One of the problems that frequently plagues B genre movies is the unbelievable actions and reactions of the characters in them, as if the director is having his actors react in a way that is most convenient for his own needs and not in a way that feels organic to the circumstances being portrayed on the screen. This movie isn't like that -- I was struck again and again by how naturally and believably the various actors in this film reacted, even when they're reacting to the most outlandish of scenarios.So glad I stumbled across this. I can thank TCM, of all channels, for it. This isn't something you would normally think of as being shown on TCM, but clearly the programmers of that station recognize its quality too.Grade: A-

This is a low budget gem that expertly mixes together the action, horror, and science fiction genres into one fast-paced, satisfying whole. It's similar to TERMINATOR 2 in that the film basically consists of a string of action sequences (with a lower budget, obviously, but no less exciting) with a little plot interspersed in between to hold things together. It's films like this that have me scouring video shelves for those '80s flicks - even though nine out of ten of them turn out to be pretty rubbish. THE HIDDEN is an obscure rarity that deserves much more appreciation than it currently holds (ie. nobody much has heard of it). I would go so far as to say it's a minor classic.The opening credits play over some security footage of a bank heist which culminates in a violent shootout between the security guards and the robber. Things move on to a fantastic car chase through the city, where our antagonist runs over as many people as possible before crashing into a police barricade at high speed and collapsing, almost dead. Looks like a typical action film, you might think...but you'd be wrong.Suddenly, the grossest scene of the film is upon us without any warning. The barely-living robber rises from his hospital bed and leans over a fellow patient. His mouth opens and...you guessed it...an alien slug comes out of his mouth and pops into the other man's. The special effects are actually very good here, with the models being used for the actors being so lifelike you can hardly tell that they're fake. The alien slug is appropriately gooey and disgusting, and as the box tells us, "...not for the squeamish".From then on we watch the killer alien go on a violent anti-social rampage, swapping bodies at will like the demon in FALLEN or the electric murderer in SHOCKER. For what it's worth I love these type of films. Hot on the alien's trail are a pair of mis-matched cops. Oh no, another buddy-buddy movie you might think and you'd be right. Predictably, the film begins with our partners hating each other and then growing to respect each other. One is played by none other than Kyle Maclachlan, who does a good job of making himself as weird yet ineffectual as possible. Michael Nouri, on the other hand, is the tough, likable cop and hands his leading role well. Solid supporting actors like Clu Gulager and Ed O'Ross help to give life to the rest of the cast.Fans of guns will no doubt be ecstatic over the dozens of bullets flying across the screen as this film progresses, as our heroes desperately try to stop the alien each time it enters a new body. There's a lot of blood spraying everywhere during these shootouts with the killer usually getting shot about a hundred times or so. I've discovered that watching Claudia Christian getting pumped full of lead as blood splashes from her body can be a very rewarding experience (I can't stand the actress, you see).There's a real sense of momentum which keeps this film on its toes and keeps the adrenaline pumping, and Jack Sholder's direction always keeps things in the midst of the action to stay interesting. There's a homage to THE TERMINATOR when the alien goes on a rampage in a police station, ending in a great gag involving a rocket launcher. Speaking of gags, there's plenty of comedy in here too to stop things from becoming too heavy. Events culminate in a fantastic, fiery showdown which, personally speaking, I found to be totally appropriate and worthwhile. So, in a film which packs in everything from male bonding to gratuitous violence to slimy special effects, what more could you possibly want?

Hugely enjoyable film predating MIB by 10 years and with a similar theme.However this film is deeper - 'The Hidden' at one level is just a body hoping alien but at another the alien possession is symbolic of our continuing lust for more and better things - plus the urge to do just as we want when we want that probably resides in most of us.Of course we do our best to keep these urges 'hidden' away but like the alien they sometimes claw their way to the surface.Perhaps a slight weak point is when we discover that the alien is an Altairan (like something out of a 50's SciFi film). In this respect - with reference to what 'The Hidden' really represents - sometimes it's better not to know!