Subtitles:

English (SDH), none

Extras:

• Commentary with Jack Sholder and Tim Hunter

An exciting mix of science fiction, cop thriller, and buddy film, THE HIDDEN is one of the most exciting and unique genre hybrids. The movie opens with an action sequence in which a young stockbroker with a strange glint in his eye robs a bank, steals a Ferarri, and drives non-stop through several police blockades while listening to pounding rock music. Finally the police force the car into a fiery crash that sends the critically injured stockbroker to the hospital. Later that day a mysterious young FBI officer, Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan), arrives at police headquarters to enlist the aid of veteran detective Tom Beck (Michael Nouri) in finding a fugitive--the stockbroker. In the meantime, the stockbroker dies but a slimy alien creature crawls out of his mouth and into the body of another patient. Soon the madness begins anew.
Bob Hunt's screenplay and Jack Sholder's direction combine to create a sci-fi action yarn replete with exciting chases, well-staged shootouts and some extremely funny black humor. Nouri and MacLachlan turn in superior performances as does the rest of the large cast. In retrospect, MacLachlan's character feels like an audition for Agent Cooper of "Twin Peaks." This is an outstanding buddy film with a smart extraterrestrial twist..

"The Hidden" is one of the most satisfying genre movies to hit the streets in a while. It isn't major -- it's too unassuming, too laconic for that. But it's consistently imaginative. Directed by Jack Sholder ("Nightmare on Elm Street 2"), the movie is sophisticated without being slick. Basically it's a cop movie, but one with an acute sense of B-movie play. Working from Bob Hunt's hilariously improbable script, Sholder has built lackadaisical rhythms into the film, and he lets the story take the shape that seems most natural to it. As a result, nothing about the movie, which has its own special brand of deadpan funkiness, ever feels stale or forced.

A lot of the movie's charms are directly attributable to MacLachlan's sly, minimalistic performance. He does some astoundingly droll underplaying here. There's a marvelous scene around a dinner table in which he conveys, almost imperceptibly, that an ordinary, everyday fork is a totally radical concept. And after he's taken only a few sips of beer you can tell that something profoundly upsetting is happening to him. He could be an alien or, perhaps, just wiped out on tricyclics.

So far, MacLachlan's career ("Dune," "Blue Velvet" and now this) has had a deeply weird bent. But he's developed into a very poised performer. There's a touch of the poetic in his character, which, along with his stone-faced implacability, brings Buster Keaton to mind.

"The Hidden" isn't as assertive as Michael Laughlin's "Strange Behavior" or its companion film "Strange Invaders," but it has in common with those movies the same hip insouciance. And there's a little of "Repo's Man's" wiggy unpredictability, thrown in, too. This is a rare kind of pulp; it's boisterously destructive, funny and, at the same time, almost serene.

Gary Tooze

November 6th, 2017