Review of The Hidden (1987) by Tim B — 10 Jan 2012

A police detective puzzled by a rash of crimes in which seemingly ordinary, law abiding citizens suddenly become Ferrari stealing, bank robbing psychopaths comes to realize that the real perpetrator is not of this world.

The Hidden could probably best be described as The Terminator meets David Cronenberg. The interesting concept is that an alien criminal comes to Earth and physically possesses its victims (with the help of some gruesome special effects that have stood the test of time surprisingly well), moving from body to body when the host becomes too damaged.

This provides the perfect set up for some outrageous action sequences featuring machine gun toting strippers, police station shoot outs and high speed car chases punctuated with just the right amount of dry, tongue in cheek humour.

Not only that, but the script is far more inventive than that of the average space monster B-movie and features a cast of faces that will be familiar to fans of cult TV series Twin Peaks as well as a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit part for Danny Trejo.

The resulting cocktail is a fast paced, funny and hugely entertaining sci-fi shoot 'em up that's something of a forgotten gem.