Invade Within and Hide
The plot is a science fiction wine that seems to age just fine. The alien invasion of the human goes back quite a ways. Some real humdingers have used it quite well. Besides the obvious Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Cronenberg brought us Shivers, there's Alien with its chest burst, Puppet Masters with the alien influence seeking to gain power, and Jack Sholder's The Hidden (1987), with Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri.
So an alien invades humans and does whatever the hell it wants. In the opening, it invaded Chris Mulkey with him opening fire on folks in a bank, taking a fast car and speeding recklessly down city streets without a care in the world. Cops are like ducks in a carnival shooting gallery. He drives right through a cripple in a wheelchair! No matter which body it invades (my favorite is Babylon 5's Claudia Christian, playing a stripper!), the results are the same...no one is above being obliterated and it's insatiable avarice for taking what it wants leaves quite a body count.
A clubbing to a music store employee, taking his boombox, shooting a car salesman and client (after they snort some coke on his desk...ahhh, yes, the 80s) after getting keys to a Ferrari, fucking a guy to death and taking his ride (!), infiltrating a canine and pouncing on a cop who headbutts his refrigerator, invading a politician with plans to run for POTUS (!), and engaging in a protracted shootout with Law enforcement in a police station. Nouri is veteran cop , Clu Gulagher his boss, and MacLachlan the curious FBI agent assigned to him as a temporary partner.
MacLachlan exhibits certain tics similar to the alien invading bodies (the finger glide down the side of his face while looking in the mirror is a sign), hiding a secret from Nouri later to be revealed. The way he eats at Nouri's dinner table, how he points up when asked by Nouri's wife where he comes from, his response to alcohol hangover, and hazardous driving all indicate he may not be quite human.
Sholder directed the second Elm Street film (a sequel I liked) and Alone in the Dark (with Palance and Landau as escaped lunatics), but I think this is his best. Lots of noise: bodies bleeding, blood squibs, guns and ammo, cars accelerating, and even MacLachlan with a blowtorch!
MacLachlan, with this, Twin Peaks, and Blue Velvet, earned some serious cult cred. He's so much fun as a fish outta water, trying to acclimate himself to this strange human society while Nouri wants to like the guy but his alien secret frustrates him. Still they are unified and it's buddy action 80s all the way. His own mission of revenge due to the alien killing his wife and kid, and partner, includes a decision at the end when Nouri appears endangered that is unexpected. Nouri's daughter and MacLachlan lock eyes and seem to read each other well. The ending tests that vfor sure!
There's a cool inclusion where as the body--the human shell-- dies, the alien must leave it. One of its first bodies was in bad shape, and begins to reject the alien. Thus the alien, which resembles a giant slug with tendrils, must transfer from one shell to another. As it is absent a body, MacLachlan has a weapon that will kill it...the rub is finding the alien in that vulnerable position. Seeing it leave human mouths should remind some of Shivers, but it is much bigger. The Hidden is at home with The Thing, among others...they are bedfellows in a decade updating sci-fi horror themes with superior makeup effects.
Quirky and macho together as MacLachlan in all his understated and aloof partnered with tough and grizzled (but cool and brave) Nouri make for the ultimate odd couple.
So an alien invades humans and does whatever the hell it wants. In the opening, it invaded Chris Mulkey with him opening fire on folks in a bank, taking a fast car and speeding recklessly down city streets without a care in the world. Cops are like ducks in a carnival shooting gallery. He drives right through a cripple in a wheelchair! No matter which body it invades (my favorite is Babylon 5's Claudia Christian, playing a stripper!), the results are the same...no one is above being obliterated and it's insatiable avarice for taking what it wants leaves quite a body count.
A clubbing to a music store employee, taking his boombox, shooting a car salesman and client (after they snort some coke on his desk...ahhh, yes, the 80s) after getting keys to a Ferrari, fucking a guy to death and taking his ride (!), infiltrating a canine and pouncing on a cop who headbutts his refrigerator, invading a politician with plans to run for POTUS (!), and engaging in a protracted shootout with Law enforcement in a police station. Nouri is veteran cop , Clu Gulagher his boss, and MacLachlan the curious FBI agent assigned to him as a temporary partner.
MacLachlan exhibits certain tics similar to the alien invading bodies (the finger glide down the side of his face while looking in the mirror is a sign), hiding a secret from Nouri later to be revealed. The way he eats at Nouri's dinner table, how he points up when asked by Nouri's wife where he comes from, his response to alcohol hangover, and hazardous driving all indicate he may not be quite human.
Sholder directed the second Elm Street film (a sequel I liked) and Alone in the Dark (with Palance and Landau as escaped lunatics), but I think this is his best. Lots of noise: bodies bleeding, blood squibs, guns and ammo, cars accelerating, and even MacLachlan with a blowtorch!
MacLachlan, with this, Twin Peaks, and Blue Velvet, earned some serious cult cred. He's so much fun as a fish outta water, trying to acclimate himself to this strange human society while Nouri wants to like the guy but his alien secret frustrates him. Still they are unified and it's buddy action 80s all the way. His own mission of revenge due to the alien killing his wife and kid, and partner, includes a decision at the end when Nouri appears endangered that is unexpected. Nouri's daughter and MacLachlan lock eyes and seem to read each other well. The ending tests that vfor sure!
There's a cool inclusion where as the body--the human shell-- dies, the alien must leave it. One of its first bodies was in bad shape, and begins to reject the alien. Thus the alien, which resembles a giant slug with tendrils, must transfer from one shell to another. As it is absent a body, MacLachlan has a weapon that will kill it...the rub is finding the alien in that vulnerable position. Seeing it leave human mouths should remind some of Shivers, but it is much bigger. The Hidden is at home with The Thing, among others...they are bedfellows in a decade updating sci-fi horror themes with superior makeup effects.
Quirky and macho together as MacLachlan in all his understated and aloof partnered with tough and grizzled (but cool and brave) Nouri make for the ultimate odd couple.
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