An alien with a love of Ferraris, loud 80's heavy metal and shooting people inhabits the bodies of innocent citizens, and it's up to two cops (Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri) to track it down before it realises its ambition to be President of the USA.
You know when you're in the video store and you decide to take a chance on some video you've never heard of? What you usually end up with is something of the quality of Xtro II, but if you're lucky, you'll end up with a pleasant surprise, like The Hidden.
It's a conventional sci-fi/action/thriller with the traditional car chases, gun battles and music you can't imagine anyone wanting to buy on the soundtrack, but this one's a little bit special. Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri are surprisingly good as the mismatched cops thrown together to beat the villain; MacLachlan's a little different - I won't spoil it by saying why.
There's humour and hard boiled dialogue in Jim Kouf's script, and some solid action sequences (the opening one gets the film off to a terrific start). All the actors playing the possessed humans do a great job (even the dog), convincingly inhabited by the same presence. And there are some nice touches like the coke-sniffing yuppie, the record player scene and the aspirin business. You could get away with this kind of nonsense in the 80's... [gazes wistfully into the middle distance]. Plus: a bit at the end that'll make you go "aah..." Music by Michael Convertino.
