The Hidden
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Movie Reviews of The Hidden
Movie Review: Is democracy the best protection?
Summary: 4 Stars
A strange film that comes from the past and yet seems to be archetypical in the cinema. It is based on the simple form of an extraterrestrial, or an alien, that takes over a human body, or any living organism, as a shield and armour to protect itself while it is rampaging in the world for its own delightful entertainment. This invading extraterrestrial is chased by another that has the mission to destroy it. This other « ET supercop » has also taken human form. Nothing new under the sun. The theme has been exploited to the most threadbare end, could we think. What more does this film bring ? First, the obvious and pregnant question that saying « I want » leads to terroristic and dominating attitudes. This is valid for us. All the I-want-people are bullies and dictators because they do not take into account the existence of others, except as obstacles that have to be pushed aside and eliminated. Second, possessing entertaining goods or capturing power is a game that leads to many colateral victims and much incidential damage. Power is not supposed to be captured, but it is supposed to be shared by everyone. Material goods are not supposed to be possessed and used for plain immediate pleasure but for some creative and productive goal that promotes the individual in a society that is enriched by this promotion. The case of a Senator who suddenly « wants » to become President is a perfect example of the abuse of democracy to impose one's will to the community. In other words democracy is not a total protection against dictatorship. We can even imagine, and observe here and there, absolute dictatorship installed and instated through a democratic process. Who can be the judge and beacon of such a danger ? In this film cops and an extraterrestrial justice-maker. This is too short. We have to think it all over to make sure it is always the collective interest of society and humanity that is taken into account at government level. We are far from this ideal that has been experimented for quite many centuries, from Athens' democratic slavery system to our western power-delegating parliamentaryu republics or monarchies. This film could be a warning to our present evolution in western countries, an evolution that is based both on the rejection of the greater part of the world that does not behave and think like us, at best, and on the attempt to impose our own way of thinking and behaving to the rest of the world, at worst. I will regret that the humane and humanistic, hence sentimental and emotional, side of this film has been slightly neglected into some side story that does not take the full dimension it should take, because our real future is in the cultivation of humane emotions, sentiments and feelings, or a deeply spiritual inspiration.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Movie Review: A past favorite confirmed!
Summary: 4 Stars
I had seen this movie about 15 years ago as a teenager and it had left a special impression on me. I confess that I was not and am not much of a fan of bloody, shoot-and-kill movies, so I don't remember why I, a young girl, had rented "The Hidden" back then (probably because I liked Kyle MacLachlan at the time, teenage thing), but I was not disappointed. And now, seeing that I could get it on dvd, I risked ordering it, knowing that my memory could be playing tricks on me and my taste may have changed since then. End verdict: I love it even more!
How can I describe this movie without spoiling it for anyone?... I'd say watch it without knowing much of the plot. Just the basics, that it's a cop thriller with a sci-fi twist. It's fast paced, well scripted and, most of all, very well acted. MacLachlan is particularly good as the mysterious, sorrowful Lloyd Gallagher. The special features are a few but okay, with the Director's Commentary a real flood of behind-the-scenes information and plot explainations (it even explains the called-by-some strange connection between Lloyd and Beck's little girl).
A few warnings: The film is rated R for a reason, it shoots up a lot of people and it's not at all shy at showing exactly how a bullet hits and creates a bloody mess. It also has some bad language that childern should better not hear. It's not a big budget movie, it doesn't have the super duper special effects, but it makes the best of what it has with realism and style.
May I add a correction to the DVD description? Unfortunately, from the Special Features, the
"Scenes from the original screenplay, including the original ending // Photos, production sketches, storyboards" that Amazon lists are NOT included in this version, or at least in the dvd I got from Amazon.com this past week. I admit that I'm a little disappointed by that, but luckily the Director's Commentary sheds enough light on the original versus final script.
Bottom line: As a fellow reviewer put it, "The Hidden" is indeed a hidden little gem. It has guns, expensive cars and shoot-outs, it has aliens and cops, but it also has performances, nice dialogs, humor and, believe it, emotion. I think that every movie fan, male or female, that can judge a good cult movie when they see it, will smile when the end credits fall.
Movie Review: An A + of a B movie
Summary: 4 Stars
If the first 10 minutes of this movie don't rock you, please check your pulse: you are probably dead. What, exactly, would you do with a psychopathic, impulse-driven monster who can change from body to body the way you change your socks and whose appetites run to A) fast cars B) big guns C) punk-metal music and D) things which don't belong to it? If you're the irritable, hard-bitten LAPD Detective Thomas Beck (brilliantly played by Michael Nouri) you don't do much, except stumble over the glass and the bodies and wonder in vain what the hell is going on. Luckily for Beck (though he doesn't think so) FBI Agent Lloyd Gallagher (superb performance by Kyle MacLachlan) arrives on the scene and seems to have all the answers, if absolutely no idea how to use Alka Seltzer. So what if Gallagher is so square he probably mows the lawn in a jacket and tie....okay, it is a problem, because he gets along with grouchy Beck like oil with water...or maybe gasoline with a hefty handful of Borax. What really matters is the chemistry between the two actors. Nouri alone is so good it makes you very sad to think how little he probably made for this flick when a one-note wonder like Bruce Willis is getting 25 million samolians for "Die Hard IV." Anyway, the in-spite-of-it, can't-admit-it friendship between Beck and Gallagher, which somehow never falls into buddy-buddy cop convention, the nice little inerplay between Beck and his crew of backup detectives, and the touching relationship between Gallagher and Beck's daughter, help prevent the movie from degenerating into just a series of explosions and and shoot-outs (though they are pretty cool too). I first saw this flick in 1988 and before the opening credits had expired I put the tape on pause, broke out the Doritos and planted myself in the easy chair, because I knew it was gonna kick butt. It did. It still does. The opening scene alone, which pits a Ferarri GTO against about 20 LAPD black and whites with Hollywood as the racetrack and pedestrians as saftey cones, recently made E's Best Five Car Chases of All Time. Speaking of lists, "The Hidden" regularly makes critics' lists of "best films you never saw." Do yourself a favor -- see it today.Movie Review: Underrated Sci/Fi Action Thriller.
Summary: 4 Stars
In the 1987 sci-fi actioner "The Hidden", an evil body-switching alien with a taste for Ferraris, loud music and murder is wreaking havoc. Only another alien, impersonating an FBI agent and teamed with an ordinary cop, knows how to stop it. "The Hidden" is an irrepressible, high-spirited genre flick full of screeching car chases, sprays of bullets and shattering glass that leaves more than a few casualties in its wake. It has alot of fun with the body-switching premise and maintains a strong sense of humor throughout. Kyle MacLachlan's performance as the unearthly FBI agent offers another great reason to watch.
Body switching sci-fi/horror fun from director Jack (Nightmare On Elm Street 2) Sholder, this can't quite keep up the breakneck pace or promise of the first half throughout but it manages to throw out an entertaining story that's loaded with a pleasing amount of action, some alright effects, and solid acting from its two leads Michael Nouri and Kyle MacLachlan. Scripter Jim Kouf (using the name Bob Hunt on the credits) even throws in a few jabs at 80's excess - like having a car salesman giving a potential customer cocaine when they're signing the papers and the Alien villain steals a huge stereo and plays some loud punk music in a diner.
Since it's release in 1987, The Hidden has gone on to enjoy a cult following and can be described as the first in a short-lived "cops hunting an alien predator" subgenre that includes such films as I Come In Peace and Alien Nation and it was obviously inspired by Invasion of The Body Snatchers. It's certainly Sholder's best work (he's done lots of TV movies and the awful genre pictures like Wishmaster 2), it was quite unique mix of "buddy cop" movies and sci-fi when it came out, and it also helped solidify New Line Cinema as a genre friendly studio (they're also responsible for the Elm Street and Critters movies). So in other words give this one a shot, you won't regret it.
Movie Review: A Testosterone Based Parasitic Roller Coaster Ride
Summary: 4 Stars
Jack Sholder's (Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, Supernova) The Hidden is a tremendously kinetic horror escapade that shimmers with startling tounge-in-cheeck humor, impressive stylistic tension, marvelously executed special effects (even by modern standards), sharply effective editing, intelligent political and social commentary, and a truly spectacularly droll performance by Kyle MacLachlan (Blue Velvet) as F.B.I. agent Lloyd Gallagher. Now thirteen years since it's theatrical release, The Hidden remains one of the 1980's most underrated horror gems that definitely needs serious rediscovery today. Chronicling the tale about an extra-terrestial body snatcher that relishes high-speed sports cars, earsplitting rock and roll music, robbery, and mass homicide. The Hidden deals with the impulisve animal instincts of human nature and what would happen with an alien unable to control them would walk the streets of America and be able to jump from body to body anytime it felt like it.Overflowing with a chilling film-noirish atmosphere, orginal sci/fi concepts, ingenious rehashing of old sci/fi cliches, a suprising humanity, and one unforgettable antagionist makes the Hidden one of the most effective achievements of 80's horror. As for the DVD edition of the Hidden, it contains a magnificent anomorhphic widescreen presentation, a Jack Sholder commentary track, and the film's theatrical trailer. A Must-buy for any horror fan.
P.S. Remember to put your aspirin into your glass of water.