Many films before The Hidden explored the notion of an alien inhabiting or replacing a human body. Most famously, both Don Siegel’s and Phillip Kaufmann’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers used the idea as a springboard for themes of suburban living, the threat of communism (allegedly, and star Kevin McCarthy later disputed it) and the psychiatric revolution as well as a 90s take exploring, broadly, parental neglect and the military.
Aliens often mimicked humans onscreen, typically to conquer the world. Sometimes, these creatures would have plans to terraform our planet, producing an atmosphere more to their liking, such as in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds or Val Guest’s Quatermass 2. Aliens invaded with an agenda - resources, messages, warnings, or domination. Whether terraforming or not, a change in social order would result, usually in catastrophe. More idyllic depictions of aliens occurred in some of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, though often they’re experimenting on or manipulating us. Until The Hidden, no one had considered that a monstrous, homicidal alien might like it here just the way it is.
The Hidden opens with live security cam footage of a bank robbery. Customers file through the feeder line as the credits roll, heading to their assigned teller. Soon, a man in a beige trenchcoat enters and stands by the entrance. In a few seconds, he’ll whip out a shotgun and blow the security guard away. Like numerous bank robbers before him, he doesn’t care about anonymity, though it isn’t due to an outpouring of public support like John Dillinger. It’s because he’ll be someone else soon.
He then engages in the most tasteless, brutally violent and absolutely exhilarating high-speed car chase through Los Angeles, first running over a man in a wheelchair while blasting heavy metal on the stereo. His crimewave only comes to a bloody end when he encounters a police barricade and they unleash hell, leaving gaping holes through the car window and his chest. This is, for now, Jack DeVries, a man who - up until recently - had no criminal history. In the last two weeks, according to Detective Cliff Willis (Ed O’Ross), informing a merciful doctor,
“He killed 12 people, wounded 23 more, stole six cars, most of them Ferraris. Robbed eight banks, six supermarkets and a candy shop. Six of the ones he killed, he carved up with a butcher’s knife - two of them were kids. If anyone deserves to go that way, it sure in the hell was him.”
Bank robberies had reached a frenzy in 80s and 90s America. In 1992, 9,540 were reported to the FBI. Los Angeles had one every hour, and with them came nicknames and black & white footage of their offence. The Chevy Chase Bandit, The Cyclops Bandit, The Bad Teeth Bandit. In that same grainy black & white, DeVries smiles at the camera, sure to make the nightly news.
DeVries doesn’t stay DeVries very long, so no nickname, mask or false identity is necessary. Instead, he rises from his hospital bed and pukes out the gooey alien slug controlling him, transferring it to the comatose patient in the next bed. By the end of the day, he’ll have been a sex worker and a politician.
Jack Sholder’s The Hidden is a body-snatching, buddy cop, alien invasion thriller and a stunningly funny, sharp indictment of late 80s Reaganism greed.
Beyond that, it’s a fantastic 80s action picture. Common complaints about action movies today include the lack of Verhoeven-esque innocent bystanders during shootouts and car chases. A young Danny Trejo shows up just to ask, “What kind of dude are you?’ before taking a shotgun to the chest. The Hidden, as demonstrated, more than gleefully blows giant holes in innocents. When possessing, the human becomes unkillable, taking hundreds of rounds (with squibs) before trading in for a different model, often a better one.
As the invader ransacks Los Angeles, The Hidden becomes a buddy cop picture, pairing Michael Nouri’s world-weary detective Tom Beck with mysterious FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan). Three years away from playing Twin Peaks’ bizarro boyscout Dale Cooper, MacLachlan was already steeped in David Lynch’s strange world. Gallagher is a perfect proto-Cooper, though his behaviour is hardly a mystery: He’s also an alien, the antithesis to the marauder, continuing his own intergalactic cop movie to avenge the death of a partner off-planet. MacLachlan can’t help but bring a touch of Lynch to The Hidden in performance, his lanky frame in a grey suit standing awkwardly in a doorway, misunderstanding social cues. He also brings the same earnestness that shone through in Peaks, all of which irritates and confuses Beck. There’s no point, even after he’s brought in on Gallagher’s real mission, that he understands his new partner outside of a coworker relationship and general brothers-in-blue claptrap.
The tagline for The Hidden promised “a new breed of criminal”, but the alien’s personality traits are decidedly human - and American. Gallagher explains its M.O. thusly:
“He sees something he wants, he steals it. If something gets in his way, he kills it. And right now, he's hiding out in your city.” Greed without any comprehension or concern for the law. I did mention this thing would be a politician soon, didn’t I?
Contemporary comparisons to The Terminator stop at his indestructibility; he “wants” things. Not just to destroy, but to consume - art, food, sex and heavy metal. In the same year that gave us Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, where corporate raiders ripped apart lives like predators, a vile, greedy alien rampaged through Los Angeles. Like John MacTiernan’s Predator, he’s a tourist, but not a sport hunter collecting trophies. He’s the Alien equivalent of the stereotypical American experience in Thailand, searching for rhapsodic ecstasy amidst sex tourism and higher quality, easy-to-obtain narcotics.
One may find it odd, then, that the alien never indulges in cocaine, despite a mountain of it featured during his crime spree. Not that the alien disdains it, it just has no comprehension of the pleasure it can offer, may be allergic to it (“man, I must have had a bad batch down/over there or something…”), and almost immediately finds a more powerful and interesting drug: Power.
The alien “wants” to be president after viewing some campaign footage on TV. And by the end of the film, it’s his slogan, undone only by Gallagher’s opposing extraterrestrial. Gallagher’s used body is now riddled with bullets, and Beck is in mortal condition in the hospital. Gallagher stands over his dying partner and transfers his “good” life force. One of these higher beings is going to take control of us pawns, it sure in the hell should be him.
The Hidden offers much more than a typical sci-fi thriller. Its portrayal of an alien entity that inhabits various human bodies, including criminals, sex workers, and politicians, adds a fascinating layer of social critique to the high-octane action. The film’s setting in Los Angeles during the late 1980s—a period marked by rampant bank robberies and social unrest—grounds the extraterrestrial menace in a very tangible reality, reflecting anxieties about crime, corruption, and unchecked greed. The alien’s modus operandi—“He sees something he wants, he steals it. If something gets in his way, he kills it”—mirrors the selfishness and ruthlessness often observed in human society, particularly critiquing the era’s political and economic climate. This thematic depth sets The Hidden apart from conventional alien invasion narratives that mostly focus on external threats. Instead, this film explores how alien impulses can parallel, and even exaggerate, human vices like power hunger and moral decay. Moreover, the character contrast between the violent alien and the good extraterrestrial cop, Lloyd Gallagher, who partners with detective Tom Beck, creates a compelling dynamic. Gallagher’s awkward, somewhat socially inept persona gives a proto-Twin Peaks vibe, enriching the narrative with a touch of quirky, offbeat charm. This buddy cop pairing serves as a metaphor for the struggle between destructive greed and redemptive justice, emphasizing the choices humanity faces. From a cinematic perspective, The Hidden is notable for its brutal and unapologetic action sequences, including car chases, shootouts, and frequent innocent casualties, reflecting a gritty, no-holds-barred style of 80s action cinema. The film does not shy away from showcasing raw violence to heighten tension and underscore the alien’s indestructibility, employing practical effects that remain memorable decades later. Intriguingly, The Hidden uses drugs and power ambitions symbolically. Despite the alien’s indiscriminate crime spree amidst abundant cocaine use, it does not indulge in narcotics, suggesting a lack of human understanding or connection to pleasure, contrasting with its craving for control and dominance. The alien's aspiration to become president after watching campaign footage comments cynically on political ambition and corruption, uniting extraterrestrial and human flaws. The film’s closing, where Gallagher transfers his life force to another host, hints at ongoing battles beyond Earth, implying that higher powers continue to influence human fate. This open-ended conclusion invites viewers to contemplate broader themes of identity, control, and the interplay between good and evil, both alien and human. In summary, The Hidden stands out as a multi-layered 80s action sci-fi film that combines thrilling visuals, compelling characters, and sharp socio-political undercurrents. For fans interested in alien narratives that delve into human nature and societal issues, The Hidden provides a rich, engaging experience that remains relevant and thought-provoking today.
