The HIDDEN

   Film (1988). New Line-Heron Joint Venture/Third Elm Street Venture. Dir Jack Sholder, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri, William Boyett. Screenplay Bob Hunt. 97 mins. Colour.

   A quiet stockbroker goes on a homicidal spree. We learn his body is temporarily occupied by a homicidal slug-like ALIEN, which moves from body to body but is soon recognizable from its behaviour. Police detective Beck (Nouri) works with an FBI man (MacLachlan) who turns out to be an alien cop in a human body. Finally,after six body changes, the Ferrari-driving alien killer is defeated. TH is a fast-moving, violent, well made formula film with no intellectual ambitions but an interesting, ambiguous ending. The story is sufficiently close to that of Hal CLEMENT's Needle (1950; vt From Outer Space 1957) as to make one wonder why he received no screen credit. The oddly coupled human/alien cop team was to become an instant film cliche: ALIEN NATION and I COME IN PEACE. The sequel, The Hidden II (1993), went straight to video; dir and written Seth Pinsker, starring Raphael Sbarge and Kate Hodge, 90 mins, it reprises ten minutes of the original before moving to atime 15 years later, with Hodge playing the daughter of Detective Beck and more evil alien spawning to be prevented.

   PN

   See also: MONSTER MOVIES.