CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

evanston_dad 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-

disinterested_spectator "The Hidden" could never have been a great science fiction movie on a par with "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) or "Star Wars" (1977), but as most science fiction movies go, this one could have been great in its own small way. Unfortunately, the producers of this movie did not have the guts to carry things out to their logical conclusion, but pulled back to something they felt would be safe. Big mistake.FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher enlists the aid of local cop Tom Beck to hunt for a succession of people connected to a bunch of strange murders. As Gallagher knows, but Beck does not, they are pursuing an alien from another planet that takes over human bodies, and when they manage to pump one so full of bullet holes that it can barely function, it leaves that body and takes over another. During the transfer, the human body opens its mouth, and a large, disgusting parasite that looks part slug and part insect comes out and enters into the mouth of its new host. As the alien moves from one host to another, it really seems to enjoy the pleasures afforded it by dwelling inside a human: it likes fast cars, rock music, and sex. Its big crimes, however, are motivated by a desire for money and power.Eventually, it turns out that Gallagher is actually an alien cop from the same planet as the alien they are pursuing. After coming to Earth, he took over a human body that was going to die anyway. Just as he and Beck finally manage to destroy the bad alien, Beck suffers fatal bullet wounds. But Gallagher has met Beck's wife and daughter, whom he likes, and having lost his own wife at the hands of his nemesis, he decides to take over Beck's body just as he is about to breathe his last. But when he opens his mouth, we see no parasite emerge, but only a golden beam of light leaving him and entering Beck's mouth. When the doctor enters the room, along with Beck's wife and child, they find that Gallagher has died and Beck has seemingly made a miraculous recovery.But imagine how great it would have been if Gallagher had opened his mouth and, instead of that beam of light, another disgusting parasite had come out and entered into Beck's mouth. We would have been forced to think that something that looks like a combination slug-insect could be good, decent, and kind.It is standard in science fiction movies that good aliens look like humans, usually with frail bodies, slightly larger craniums, and larger eyes. But if the aliens look like insects, then we know they are evil and must be destroyed.This movie could have split those alien stereotypes wide open, making us accept what we should have known all along, that someone who is ugly may nevertheless be a nice person to know. But the producers of this movie had a failure of nerve. Sure, we can assume that Gallagher and his nemesis were of two different species. We can make up any story we want. But the result will still be the same. The minute Gallagher opened his mouth and a beam of yellow light came out instead, this movie became second rate.

Leofwine_draca 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?

utgard14 Sci-fi buddy cop film about a parasitic alien that hops from one body to another while on a deadly crime spree through Los Angeles. Tough detective Michael Nouri teams up with mysterious FBI agent Kyle MacLachlan to track it down. Buddy cop movies were all the rage in the '80s and we still get them today, recycling one tired cliché after another. This is one of the better movies of this type due to its sci-fi twist and the good performances of Nouri & MacLachlan, who work well together. Also appreciated is sexy Claudia Christian as a stripper. Some very cool effects for the alien. It's a good piece of entertainment with a little bit of depth. Quite an interesting ending, too. Worst part? The soundtrack is made up of crappy generic metal music.