Although I have a great appreciation for the films of the 1980s,
it’s usually reserved for the ones released within the early part of the decade
with anything after 1985 being ignored or not as enjoyable…for the most
part. For instance, my love of the Friday the 13th franchise is
mainly for the first four films and I usually stop after watching the fourth
film. With the A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise, I go as far as The Dream Warriors. It just seems that the latter half of the 80s
included too many silly films and they all became parodies of what we’d seen a
mere few years before it. But for some
reason, 1987 was a year that churned out some very memorable movies that were
entertaining and exciting.
With that said, and as unfortunate as it is, The Hidden had fallen
through the cracks and hasn’t seen resurgence thus far. But I’m here to tell you…it needs to be
looked at and discussed.
The plot breakdown…
An alien parasite with the ability to possess human bodies goes on
a merciless crime spree in Los Angeles, committing dozens of murders and
robberies. In pursuit of the
extraterrestrial criminal is FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan) and
police detective Tom Beck (Michael Nouri) who is investigating the recent
outbreak of violence. Closing in on the
vicious intruder, the city faces a brutal threat like no other it has ever
encountered.
Speaking of the 80s, there was a time back then when many
productions were filmed in and around the Los Angeles area. Although I’m not that familiar with the L.A.
area, seeing these films almost makes me think I know it quite well. Most of the films were memorable classics
like The Terminator, To Live and Die in L.A., Lethal Weapon, and Die Hard, and those films always bring a sense of nostalgia into
me. I can go through a slough of films
that most of you would recognize, but The Hidden stands out as an underrated
classic—to me anyway.
I remember seeing this in theaters way back in 1987 and it seemed
to be somewhat of a hit, resonating a little bit of a following at the time,
but it seemed to be quickly forgotten after its run in theaters. It’s understandable, of course, since 1987
was a big year for hit films. Films like
Beverly Hills Cop II, Lethal Weapon, Robocop, Creepshow 2, Fatal
Attraction, and Full Metal Jacket—which
preceded and followed The Hidden—made it a vague memory
soon after it came out. In fact, I
happened to be perusing eBay when I noticed a Japanese import of this DVD which
made me pause and gave me a bit of a surprise as it instantly brought me back
to 1987. Believing it to be an
above-average sci-fi/action/thriller, I knew I had to add it to my collection.
The film grabs you right from the beginning, as it opens on a bank
robbery, seen from a security camera, with a man shooting up the place before
taking off with his take. One part of
this scene that I enjoy is after the crook shoots everybody up and is about to
leave with his loot, he pauses to look at the security camera and smiles before
shooting it out. He then goes out to his
Ferrari, pops in a cassette to blast some heavy metal music (these aspects are
a repeated trait of this villain in the film), and speeds off with the police
sirens being heard in the background.
Right away, this movie sucks you in.
It leaves you with so many questions: Who is this guy? Why is he so
violent? Why is he openly breaking the law, even after getting away from the
bank? It’s the right way to start a film
like this, hooking the audience to watch until the end.
For a little known film, with probably not that big of a budget,
the special effects were—and still are—pretty convincing. Even though the movie is thirty years old, it
still makes me scratch my head here and there as I wonder how they performed
some of those gags. It’s no secret,
especially if you read the plot summary to the story, that the film is about an
alien parasite that takes over human bodies and will leave a dying one to take
over another. So performing those scenes
would’ve been a daunting task, even by today’s standards. I won’t get into the descriptions of those
scenes, but I would’ve thought the special effects would’ve looked phony today,
but it still holds up. The gurus that
worked on it obviously make use of dummy heads of the actors that had to be
created, but they looked spot on.
Compared to The Terminator and
Robocop, which were made around the
same time and employed similar special effects techniques, the mechanical heads
here looked way more convincing.
One critic’s quote on the cover of the DVD, by some random movie
journalist, cites this film is “Invasion
of the Body Snatchers meets The
Terminator,” which is the perfect
description because that’s the feel of this film throughout: The movie doesn’t
let up, there’s no dull downtime (besides the dinner visit, but that lets
us—the audience—get to know the characters of Gallagher and Beck a bit more),
and it’s basically the good guys against an unstoppable force that can take
over anyone it chooses. Hell, I’d even
say there’s a little bit of The Thing in
this flick as there’s a bit of a who’s who plot device to the story.
Always giving kudos to animal actors, I have to give props to Roy
the Dog who plays Jake, Lieutenant Masterson’s (Clarence Felder) dog. A characteristic that’s shown throughout the
film, when the parasite takes over a body, the alien-controlled person tends to
slightly lick their lips to appear menacing or cluing in the audience to show
that the person we see is the antagonist.
At one point during the movie, the dog becomes infested with the
parasite and later we see it looking at Gallagher as it licks his lips. The scene always puts a smile on my face.
If there’s anything I can nitpick about the film is that I wish
there was a backstory shown of where this parasite came from, maybe a scene
showing it escaping the planet from where it originated. But I understand the budget the film had to
work with and it really doesn’t take anything away for me.
Being a 30-year-old movie, you’re going to see some silliness like
the cars of the time and the technology available (like a car stereo that plays
cassettes or a man walking around with a boom box), but as long as you can get
past that, you’ll enjoy the movie immensely.
My final “bit” on The Hidden?
The movie is a forgotten gem that many people may not know about
or have never seen before. Although it’s
your typical 80s flick with a lot of gun fighting and action scenes, it’s a
well-made film that encompasses so much originality and the right balance of
humor and gravitas. As I’d mentioned,
the special effects are still believable and the acting is taken seriously,
making this movie a must for a fun, popcorn-munching good time. Maybe Shout! Factory can get a collector’s
edition going with this one…I know I’d appreciate
it.
Thanks for reading!
