The Hidden
Encyclopedia
The Hidden is an American science fiction film
produced and released in 1987 by New Line Cinema
. The film was written by Bob Hunt (pen name
of writer/producer/director Jim Kouf
) and directed by Jack Sholder
. The cast featured Kyle MacLachlan
and Michael Nouri
with supporting roles by Clu Gulager
, Chris Mulkey
, Ed O'Ross
, Clarence Felder
, Claudia Christian
and Larry Cedar
.
This film received a MPAA
rating of R, and was filmed in color with mono sound. The DVD version was remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. At the time it was released it was an independent film
and had been produced for less than US$5 million. A sequel, The Hidden II
, directed by Seth Pinsker was released in 1994
.
The police officer in charge of the investigation, Sgt. Thomas Beck (Michael Nouri
), is baffled when the suspect survives multiple gunshots during the resulting shoot-out. Following this the creature sheds its host (Chris Mulkey
) leaving a corpse, and eventually moves on to its next; a victim with a record of poor health (William Boyett
).
The creature then commits a series of murders in Los Angeles
while transferring from host to host (including a stripper (Claudia Christian
), a dog, Beck's partner Lt. John Masterson (Clarence Felder
), a senator (John McCann), and Beck's closest friend Cliff Willis (Ed O'Ross
) ), leaving the police department perplexed. In the process the creature transits from a small-time crook to a serial killing hitman up to a full-time political terrorist, scheming from petty thefts to a U.S. government takeover.
Arriving on the scene is FBI
agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan
), who is actually also an alien sent to detain the rogue being. Like the criminal, the policeman is able to move from body to body at will. When it first came to Earth, the alien inhabited the body of Robert Stone, a park ranger and friend of the real, human Gallagher. After both were killed in a fire while hunting, the alien policeman had taken Gallagher's name and identity but is now using Stone's body to move around while in pursuit of the criminal.
Gallagher and Beck sacrifice themselves to defeat and destroy the alien criminal. Beck is shot and fatally wounded by the possessed Willis, while Gallagher - who has used a flame thrower to destroy the senator's possessed body, followed by the alien itself with alien weaponry - is downed in a hail of bullets by the senator's security detail. With his body in poor health due to the multiple gunshots he sustained, and the rogue alien succumbing to Beck's wounds, Gallagher chooses to transfer his lifeforce into Beck's lifeless body.
by New Line Cinema
in October 1987. It turned out to be a modest hit for the company, grossing $9,747,988 at the box office.
The film was released on VHS
and laserdisc
by Media Home Entertainment
in 1988. In August 1997, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS.
In 2000, New Line Home Entertainment
released the film on special edition
DVD
. The film was re-released in a set including the sequel The Hidden II
in 2005.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
produced and released in 1987 by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
. The film was written by Bob Hunt (pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of writer/producer/director Jim Kouf
Jim Kouf
Jim Kouf is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He received the 1988 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay for his work on Stakeout .-Filmography :...
) and directed by Jack Sholder
Jack Sholder
Jack Sholder is a director, best known for his work in the horror film genre, notably Alone in the Dark, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, The Hidden, and Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies.In the DVD commentary of The Hidden Jack Sholder states that his favorite film director is Jean...
. The cast featured Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor. MacLachlan is best known for his roles in cult films Blue Velvet as Jeffrey Beaumont, Showgirls as Zack Carey, as Paul Atreides in Dune, and Ray Manzarek in the Oliver Stone film The Doors...
and Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...
with supporting roles by Clu Gulager
Clu Gulager
Clu Gulager is an American television and film actor. He is particularly noted for his co-starring role as William H. Bonney in the 1960–62 NBC TV series The Tall Man and for his role in the later NBC series The Virginian...
, Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey is an American actor who most recently appeared in Against the Wall, Cloverfield, the NBC TV movie Knight Rider, and as a corporate executive in season 7 of 24...
, Ed O'Ross
Ed O'Ross
Ed O'Ross is an American actor perhaps best known for playing the giggling spectacled gangster Itchy in Dick Tracy, ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rostavili in Red Heat, and tough-then-alien-possessed police detective Cliff Willis in The Hidden.-Early life:O'Ross was born Edward Oross in...
, Clarence Felder
Clarence Felder
Clarence Felder is an American character actor who starred in films and on television and co-starred in ten Broadway productions....
, Claudia Christian
Claudia Christian
Claudia Ann Christian is an American actress, writer, singer, musician, and director, best known for her role as Commander Susan Ivanova on the science fiction television series Babylon 5.-Career:...
and Larry Cedar
Larry Cedar
Larry Cedar is an American actor and a voice actor best known as one of the players of the highly-acclaimed Children's Television Workshop mathematics show, Square One TV on PBS from 1987 to 1994. He also played Alex the Butcher in a series of commercials for Kroger in 1989...
.
This film received a MPAA
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
rating of R, and was filmed in color with mono sound. The DVD version was remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. At the time it was released it was an independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
and had been produced for less than US$5 million. A sequel, The Hidden II
The Hidden II
-Plot:The alien criminal from the first movie is dead, but he left a few eggs which are hatching now. It is explained that on the alien's homeworld, evolution took two parallel paths: half of their race became violent criminals who live only for pleasure , and the other half evolved beyond their...
, directed by Seth Pinsker was released in 1994
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
.
Plot
A murderous alien master criminal and a master of disguise from outer space arrives on Earth and begins to inhabit human bodies, using them as hosts to disguise itself so that it can move around undetected. The creature commits violent crimes, such as armed robbery and carjacking, and is willing to kill anyone that gets in its way. It appears to enjoy driving sports cars at speed while listening to rock music and has a confrontation with the police after it commits a bank robbery. During the incident five guards are killed at the bank and two civilians are mowed down whilst the creature attempts to escape.The police officer in charge of the investigation, Sgt. Thomas Beck (Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...
), is baffled when the suspect survives multiple gunshots during the resulting shoot-out. Following this the creature sheds its host (Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey
Chris Mulkey is an American actor who most recently appeared in Against the Wall, Cloverfield, the NBC TV movie Knight Rider, and as a corporate executive in season 7 of 24...
) leaving a corpse, and eventually moves on to its next; a victim with a record of poor health (William Boyett
William Boyett
William Boyett was an American actor best known for his work as the low-key but authoritative Sergeant William 'Mac' MacDonald on the police drama Adam-12...
).
The creature then commits a series of murders in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
while transferring from host to host (including a stripper (Claudia Christian
Claudia Christian
Claudia Ann Christian is an American actress, writer, singer, musician, and director, best known for her role as Commander Susan Ivanova on the science fiction television series Babylon 5.-Career:...
), a dog, Beck's partner Lt. John Masterson (Clarence Felder
Clarence Felder
Clarence Felder is an American character actor who starred in films and on television and co-starred in ten Broadway productions....
), a senator (John McCann), and Beck's closest friend Cliff Willis (Ed O'Ross
Ed O'Ross
Ed O'Ross is an American actor perhaps best known for playing the giggling spectacled gangster Itchy in Dick Tracy, ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rostavili in Red Heat, and tough-then-alien-possessed police detective Cliff Willis in The Hidden.-Early life:O'Ross was born Edward Oross in...
) ), leaving the police department perplexed. In the process the creature transits from a small-time crook to a serial killing hitman up to a full-time political terrorist, scheming from petty thefts to a U.S. government takeover.
Arriving on the scene is FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor. MacLachlan is best known for his roles in cult films Blue Velvet as Jeffrey Beaumont, Showgirls as Zack Carey, as Paul Atreides in Dune, and Ray Manzarek in the Oliver Stone film The Doors...
), who is actually also an alien sent to detain the rogue being. Like the criminal, the policeman is able to move from body to body at will. When it first came to Earth, the alien inhabited the body of Robert Stone, a park ranger and friend of the real, human Gallagher. After both were killed in a fire while hunting, the alien policeman had taken Gallagher's name and identity but is now using Stone's body to move around while in pursuit of the criminal.
Gallagher and Beck sacrifice themselves to defeat and destroy the alien criminal. Beck is shot and fatally wounded by the possessed Willis, while Gallagher - who has used a flame thrower to destroy the senator's possessed body, followed by the alien itself with alien weaponry - is downed in a hail of bullets by the senator's security detail. With his body in poor health due to the multiple gunshots he sustained, and the rogue alien succumbing to Beck's wounds, Gallagher chooses to transfer his lifeforce into Beck's lifeless body.
Soundtrack
Composed and performed by Michael Convertino.- "Hidden" - The Truth
- "Black Girl White Girl" - The Lords of the New ChurchThe Lords of the New ChurchThe Lords of the New Church were an English/American post-punk supergroup with a line-up consisting of four musicians from prominent 1970s punk bands...
- "Is There Anybody In There?" - Hunters & CollectorsHunters & CollectorsHunters & Collectors were an Australian rock music band formed in Melbourne in 1981, fronted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of pub rock and art-funk...
- "Say Good Bye" - Hunters & CollectorsHunters & CollectorsHunters & Collectors were an Australian rock music band formed in Melbourne in 1981, fronted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of pub rock and art-funk...
- "On Your Feet" - Shok Paris
- "Going Down Fighting" - Shok Paris
- "Weapons of Love" - The Truth
- "Still in Hollywood" - Concrete BlondeConcrete BlondeConcrete Blonde is an alternative rock band based in the United States. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2004, and once again in 2010.-Biography:...
- "Your Haunted Head" - Concrete BlondeConcrete BlondeConcrete Blonde is an alternative rock band based in the United States. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2004, and once again in 2010.-Biography:...
- "While the Going's Good" - Twin Set & the Pearls
- "You Make Me Feel So Young" - Brian Gunboty
- "Out of Control (In My Car)" - ULI
- "Bad Girl" - Mendy Lee
- "Over Your Shoulder" - Concrete BlondeConcrete BlondeConcrete Blonde is an alternative rock band based in the United States. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2004, and once again in 2010.-Biography:...
Release
The film was released theatrically in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
in October 1987. It turned out to be a modest hit for the company, grossing $9,747,988 at the box office.
The film was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
by Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band....
in 1988. In August 1997, New Line Home Video re-released the film on VHS.
In 2000, New Line Home Entertainment
New Line Home Entertainment
New Line Home Entertainment is the home entertainment distribution arm of New Line Cinema, founded in 1990. According to New Line's website, Misery was the first New Line Home Video release....
released the film on special edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. The film was re-released in a set including the sequel The Hidden II
The Hidden II
-Plot:The alien criminal from the first movie is dead, but he left a few eggs which are hatching now. It is explained that on the alien's homeworld, evolution took two parallel paths: half of their race became violent criminals who live only for pleasure , and the other half evolved beyond their...
in 2005.
Awards
- Jack Sholder won the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival in 1988.
- Jack Sholder won Best Director at FantasportoFantasportoFantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...
in 1988. It was also nominated for Best Film at that festival. - Michael Nouri won Best Actor at the Catalonian International Film FestivalFestival de Cine de SitgesThe Sitges Film Festival is a Spanish film festival that is one of the most recognizable ones held in Europe, considered the world's foremost international festival specializing in fantasy and horror movies...
in 1987. Jack Sholder took Prize of the International Critics’ Jury at the same festival. - At the 1988 Saturn Awards, Michael Nouri was nominated for Best Actor, Jack Sholder was nominated for Best Director, Jim Kouf was nominated for best writing, and The Hidden was nominated for best film.