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Year of release
1987
1987
Directed by
Jack Sholder
Jack Sholder
Written by
Jim Kouf
Jim Kouf
Starring
Kyle MacLachlan
Michael Nouri
Claudia Christian
William Boyett
Clarence Feldder
Kyle MacLachlan
Michael Nouri
Claudia Christian
William Boyett
Clarence Feldder
The Hidden
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Plot - A crazed individual goes on a manic spree of robbing banks and killing numerous people along the way. Given that up until recently he had been a perfectly normal citizen with nothing but a speeding ticket to his name, the whole thing seems rather unusual to detective Tom Beck (Nouri). Though he could not possibly imagine just how unusual things are going to get. When the suspect is captured and confined to a hospital bed it seems like the end of the case, until that is the man, who should technically be dead, gets up and walks over to the patient sharing his room. The patient is Jonathan Miller (Boyett). He opens the man's mouth, leans over him and all of a sudden some kind of creature begins to escape from his own mouth and into Miller's. This whole spree was not the work of any run-of-the-mill human, but an alien!!! Hot on the tail of this alien parasite is FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (MacLachlan). When Gallagher and Nouri are partnered together on the case it's clear that Gallagher knows a lot more than he is letting on. But when Gallagher finally tells him the truth, will Beck be ready to listen?
Now this one was a LOT of fun! A real little gem of a film. And yet another film for which I owe thanks to MovieForums. Until I joined this forum I had never even heard of The Hidden, but since then I've seen it on a few top 100 lists and seem to remember Holden raving about it at one point. However the person I really owe my thanks to is Used Future. It was one of the many films that jumped out at me from his top 100 list, and that inspired a blind buy. And it was certainly worth it.
The Hidden really is quite the genre mash-up, melding together the action/thriller, buddy movie and sci-fi genres to create a massively entertaining experience; something akin to Terminator crossed with The Thing and any number of buddy cop flicks. Given that those are amongst my absolute favourite genres, this was a little slice of movie heaven for me. They come together to create a package of fast cars, sexy girls, loud music, aliens and heavy weaponry. And really, what else does a growing boy need? 
And I think that the film succeeds on each of these distinctive fronts. As an action/thriller it delivers lots of thrills, and that's true right from the off courtesy of a pretty awesome care chase. The chase sets the tone for the film right from the start. After he brutally slays a couple of security guards during a bank robbery, the man responsible jumps into a sleek black Ferrari. Heavy metal starts pounding from the radio as he tears off with a number of police cars in tow. They thrash around the streets of Los Angeles at high speed with lots of contact between the cars. The villain of the piece then ploughs straight into an elderly, wheelchair-bound individual and sends him flying into the air. Next up is that old classic - two men carrying a pane of glass. Except that The Hidden gives it a brutal twist. He crashes into one of the men in a disturbing manner, sending him up onto and over the roof before landing with a sickening bump. It's got to be one of more astonishing and brutal-looking pieces of stuntwork I've seen in quite a while. The race finally reaches its conclusion with the Ferrari driving head long into a hail of bullets, before eventually being turned into a large fireball. The chase lasts about five or six minutes and let's you know that the film is going to deliver a lot of thrills, but also a lot of dark comedy while keeping it firmly tongue in cheek. It may not be one of the all time great car chases, but it's certainly not a million miles away. And I'm struggling to think of any chase better to ever open up a movie. Usually if a film is going to include such a sequence it will save it and make it a real centre piece as in Bullitt or The French Connection. It's a violent, reckless thrillride executed with impressive precision. In fact here it is
And I think that the film succeeds on each of these distinctive fronts. As an action/thriller it delivers lots of thrills, and that's true right from the off courtesy of a pretty awesome care chase. The chase sets the tone for the film right from the start. After he brutally slays a couple of security guards during a bank robbery, the man responsible jumps into a sleek black Ferrari. Heavy metal starts pounding from the radio as he tears off with a number of police cars in tow. They thrash around the streets of Los Angeles at high speed with lots of contact between the cars. The villain of the piece then ploughs straight into an elderly, wheelchair-bound individual and sends him flying into the air. Next up is that old classic - two men carrying a pane of glass. Except that The Hidden gives it a brutal twist. He crashes into one of the men in a disturbing manner, sending him up onto and over the roof before landing with a sickening bump. It's got to be one of more astonishing and brutal-looking pieces of stuntwork I've seen in quite a while. The race finally reaches its conclusion with the Ferrari driving head long into a hail of bullets, before eventually being turned into a large fireball. The chase lasts about five or six minutes and let's you know that the film is going to deliver a lot of thrills, but also a lot of dark comedy while keeping it firmly tongue in cheek. It may not be one of the all time great car chases, but it's certainly not a million miles away. And I'm struggling to think of any chase better to ever open up a movie. Usually if a film is going to include such a sequence it will save it and make it a real centre piece as in Bullitt or The French Connection. It's a violent, reckless thrillride executed with impressive precision. In fact here it isThe film also features a large number of big shootouts, with the film perhaps setting a record for its amount of squib work. With the alien akin to the unstoppable T-1000 it gets shot over and over again but just keeps coming, meaning that the blood is certainly flying. As an alien film it really is a lot of fun, presenting quite a unique and small-scale spin on the genre. Well small-scale in terms of it not being a full-on alien invasion flick, though I'm guessing the dozens of people killed don't necessarily consider its scale all that small. Probably as a result of the film's very modest budget we rarely get a glimpse of the alien itself. However on the rare occasions where we do get a good look at the alien it is pretty coolly realised; with good old-fashioned practical effects creating a slug/anteater like parasite with tentacles. There's a pretty awesome scene where we see the parasite transfer from one host to another in impressively schlocky fashion thanks to latex heads and puppets.
And lastly as a buddy movie it is very funny stuff, with MacLachlan and Nouri creating a nice chemistry in their oddest of odd couple pairings. Their developing relationship is nicely handled, and forms a pleasing bond. MacLachlan in particular is excellent in this, giving his character a suitably quirky and otherworldly appeal. I love the way that he plays the character so stiff and awkward, conveying that sense of having to overly control his actions as this body is so foreign to him. He's just trying to get a hold on it. Considering where he could easily have taken it, he actually delivers quite a subtle little showing. The script also gives him the chance to elicit a number of laughs, either through his deadpan delivery or some physical humour. There are a few scenes that do a nice job of showing us his unusual nature, and have us beginning to suspect that something is a little off here. He's quite an endearing creation. And opposite him, Nouri is suitably charismatic as the slick and charming Sgt. Beck, a by-the-book if occasionally hot-headed cop who finds himself on a case like nothing he's ever seen before.
Also doing a really nice job are all the people cast to portray the possessed individuals that fall victim to the alien parasite; their combined efforts creating a uniform creation. In terms of performance the star would have to be William Boyett who is a bit of a riot. His awkward, uncomfortable, lurching performance and bugging eyes really does make you believe he is inhabited by something not of this world, and certainly feels like it could easily have been the inspiration for Vincent D'Onofrio bizarre mannerisms as the alien in Men in Black. From memory I'd say they are exceptionally similar in style. While Boyett may provide the best performance, the most impactful and memorable showing certainly belongs to Claudia Christian as stripper, Brenda Lee. She is insanely sexy in this, and when we see her in a backless dress which reveals a g-string? Wow, absolutely smoking! When she becomes the latest of the alien's hosts, she makes for a very sultry vixen. The character of the alien parasite as a whole is really good fun. It seems particularly taken with flash cars, excessive violence and fast women. In fact it's very easy to see the parasite as a bit of a satirical swipe at the 'greed is good' sentiment of the 80s.
The script may not exactly be the pinnacle of humanity's literary works but is a strong work in its own right, aware of it's B-movie standing and keeping its focus on what's important. The script has some hard-boiled dialogue, a lot of funny lines and even the odd moment of unexpected intelligence and originality in regards to its plot and subject matter. It may keep things rather vague and under-developed in terms of its exposition, the motivation of the characters, the fleshing out of the whole background etc but it makes sure to keep the laughs and thrills coming along at regular intervals and creates a briskly paced experience. Such a frenetic pace ensures that you never really have a chance to linger on any of its more implausible elements. I'd say it's a similar story when it comes to Jack Sholder's direction. It's not an amazing technical achievement but it is an assured and satisfying effort. It's pleasantly shot, the action scenes are all handled impressively and as with the script he keeps the pace churning along at a frantic rate. And given the film's rather small budget he deserves a lot of credit for the fact that it never looks cheap; you'd swear it had a much larger budget than it actually did. And save for the soundtrack of 80s heavy metal the film has actually aged extremely well. Again credit to Sholder as it still looks fresh and vibrant.
If there is one sticking point I have with The Hidden, it's in its ending. After such ballsy fun and mischievous humour throughout, all of a sudden the film seems to get serious on us and the ending does feel a little downbeat and maudlin. It is a fairly satisfying ending which provides a logical conclusion and a sense of closure, but I just felt it came across as little out of place. Although I suppose I should give it some credit for subverting my expectations and not going down the typically clichéd route.
Conclusion - As I said at the start I had never seen or even heard of this film until arriving on this forum. If you're in a similar situation and think this may be up your street, then I highly recommend you tracking it down someday and giving it a watch. It's an extremely spirited film that crashes along at an unrelenting pace, embracing the sheer improbability of it all; delivering action, laughs and sex along the way. All in all just an exceptionally entertaining B-movie. And one that is quite aptly named as it really is a bit of a hidden gem. It's a film I imagine would make a really fun double-bill companion to John Carpenter's cult classic They Live. And as with Death Race 2000 I could see it perhaps becoming a really big favourite in the future.
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JayDee's Movie Musings (Reviews - Frailty / Total Recall / Lone Ranger / Nightcrawler / Whiplash / Imitation Game / Birdman / Avengers: Age of Ultron / Mad Max: Fury Road)
Last edited by JayDee; 08-29-13 at 09:42 PM.
I can imagine you liking Targets as in general it seems to be quite a well thought of film, not sure I can quite picture you watching Rollerball though. Well I do like to mix it up a bit between the mainstream and going off the grid as you say. It's just that of late with me reviewing so many of my absolute favourites they tend to be very popular flicks.
A lot of the film, such as Selleck's robot housekeeper/makeshift wife, is pretty corny and the film as a whole is pretty poor but also kind of fun, largely helped by Tom Selleck. He is someone I've always liked so his presence is a plus. While Gene Simmons is makes for an enjoyably sleezy villain, and Kirstie Allie is a lively presence for her brief screentime. 
