Post by Quorthon on Oct 19, 2005 16:16:57 GMT -5
The Hidden/The Hidden 2
Science Fiction Horror/Cop Drama
1987/1994
Color
MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: Jack Sholder/Seth Pinsker
USA
Currently, you can find these two films packed together on one DVD as a double feature. So, since I have them both and finally got around to the second one, I'll review both together.
The Hidden is a horror film about an alien "criminal" that has ended up on earth running around a major city. The alien loves violence, crime, and apparently, cheesy 80's Power Metal. What a guy! But there's a catch! The alien hides inside the bodies of people--so you never know who he's gonna be! To make things fun, the ever-placid Kyle MacLachlan plays the other alien--the one hunting the criminal alien. He's teamed up with a street-tough cop who spends a lot of time thinking that the FBI agent-alien (MacLachlan) is merely some sort of lunatic.
The Hidden 2 picks up right where the first left off--and quickly disintegrates into a much worse movie. This film follows a "chunk" of the original bad-ass alien as it infests a dog, then spawns several other tiny evil alien, um, larva. Well, eventually, someone is infested again and the reign of violence almost starts again. I say almost because the alien spends most of his time screwing around accomplishing nothing. Much like the heroes--who are completely forgettable while they forge an awkward love affair and make repeatedly poor decisions hunting the "evil" aliens.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
The Hidden
--Good acting and an interesting story, even if it was made to bring in the big bucks--violence, fast cars, cheesy Metal--these are just some of the cliche's of the 80's--and the movie is chock full of them.
--Fairly realistic in it's execution, it's believable despite the cheesiness. The cop, Michael Nouri, behaves like one would expect.
--MacLachlan and Michael Nouri make a good team--Nouri is the perfect counter for MacLachlan's generally stale demeanour--This is the only way I've ever seen this guy in movies!
--Rampant gun violence!
The Hidden 2
--Well, more shots of the alien and gore than the first film.
--Slightly better atmosphere than Hidden 1.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
The Hidden
--The atmosphere is somewhat weak--almost the entire movie takes place in daylight.
--Aside from the constant screeching Power Metal, the rest of the music is alright.
--Car chases--love 'em or hate 'em--here they are--but at least with cool cars.
--Decent cinematography.
--Pretty good special effects when we see them.
The Hidden2
--The acting is nothing special, but it doesn't hurt the film too badly.
--Passable music and cinematography.
--Extensive yammering which attempts to explain every little detail about the aliens.
The Bad:
The Hidden
--I personally would've loved to see the alien a little more. But it's "hidden," so nuts to that.
--Some dialogue.
The Hidden2
--Very little chemistry between our heroes.
--Main hero guy is pretty nerdy.
--Sure, the alien is shown more, but for fuck sakes! The special effects should have improved in quality! They still feel like they're mid-80's puppets, here. We have a six-legged alien "thing" that we get to see moving around and what does it look like? A shaved, partially mutilated dead rat in rigor mortis. The legs barely move!
--Insipid love story.
--Clumsey, infantile hero.
--The evil alien spends very little time doing anything. Mostly walking around talking like an idiot or slowly gestating inside of someone allowing for very little action.
--Scene where heroine has a nightmare--of images she never saw while awake! She's seeing somethng in her nightmare that only we viewers saw!
The Ugly:
The Hidden
--When we see what the good-guy alien looks like. Oooo! A creature made of light particles!!
The Hidden2
--Several story problems--for one: There are several evil alien larva sitting unprotected which are just not killed--they're deliberately ignored or the search for them is just done immensly poorly. This alien good guy travelled all through space to do a half-assed job, did he? Well, that's what he's doing. It'll take literally a minute or two to kill the remaining sleeping larva after he kills just one. So what does he do? "I'm tired, let's go," basically. And he leaves! Three times he does this! This is the most procrastinating alien I've ever seen!
--Most of the "we're lovers now" dialogue.
--At least 2 sex scenes with zero nudity. An R-rated horror film with sex and no nudity? What the hell?
Memorable Scene:
The Hidden
--The film's nice climax.
The Hidden2
--Seeing the credits start.
(The Hidden on the left, Hidden 2 on the right)
Acting: 8/10 5/10
Story: 8/10 6/10
Atmosphere: 5/10 7/10
Cinematography: 6/10 5/10
Character Development: 8/10 4/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 6/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 1/10 1/10
Violence/Gore: 8/10 (lots of violence) 6/10 (less violence, more gore)
Sets/Backgrounds: 7/10 4/10
Dialogue: 8/10 5/10
Music: 7/10 6/10
Writing: 8/10 3/10
Direction: 8/10 3/10
Cheesiness: 3/10 6/10
Crappiness: 0/10 5/10
Overall: 8/10 4/10
Well, there you have it. This 2-movie DVD is worth getting for horror fans for the first movie alone (provided you don't pay too much. Over $15 is too much, $10 is about right). The first is a pretty good film, just light on the gore and a pretty weak overall atmosphere. The second, however, is weak in everything except atmosphere and gore--and those are only slightly better. If you can get the first movie alone, go for it. Classic 80's science fiction horror--with a touch of cop drama. The second is forgettable.
Science Fiction Horror/Cop Drama
1987/1994
Color
MPAA Rating: R
Directed by: Jack Sholder/Seth Pinsker
USA
Currently, you can find these two films packed together on one DVD as a double feature. So, since I have them both and finally got around to the second one, I'll review both together.
The Hidden is a horror film about an alien "criminal" that has ended up on earth running around a major city. The alien loves violence, crime, and apparently, cheesy 80's Power Metal. What a guy! But there's a catch! The alien hides inside the bodies of people--so you never know who he's gonna be! To make things fun, the ever-placid Kyle MacLachlan plays the other alien--the one hunting the criminal alien. He's teamed up with a street-tough cop who spends a lot of time thinking that the FBI agent-alien (MacLachlan) is merely some sort of lunatic.
The Hidden 2 picks up right where the first left off--and quickly disintegrates into a much worse movie. This film follows a "chunk" of the original bad-ass alien as it infests a dog, then spawns several other tiny evil alien, um, larva. Well, eventually, someone is infested again and the reign of violence almost starts again. I say almost because the alien spends most of his time screwing around accomplishing nothing. Much like the heroes--who are completely forgettable while they forge an awkward love affair and make repeatedly poor decisions hunting the "evil" aliens.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
The Hidden
--Good acting and an interesting story, even if it was made to bring in the big bucks--violence, fast cars, cheesy Metal--these are just some of the cliche's of the 80's--and the movie is chock full of them.
--Fairly realistic in it's execution, it's believable despite the cheesiness. The cop, Michael Nouri, behaves like one would expect.
--MacLachlan and Michael Nouri make a good team--Nouri is the perfect counter for MacLachlan's generally stale demeanour--This is the only way I've ever seen this guy in movies!
--Rampant gun violence!
The Hidden 2
--Well, more shots of the alien and gore than the first film.
--Slightly better atmosphere than Hidden 1.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
The Hidden
--The atmosphere is somewhat weak--almost the entire movie takes place in daylight.
--Aside from the constant screeching Power Metal, the rest of the music is alright.
--Car chases--love 'em or hate 'em--here they are--but at least with cool cars.
--Decent cinematography.
--Pretty good special effects when we see them.
The Hidden2
--The acting is nothing special, but it doesn't hurt the film too badly.
--Passable music and cinematography.
--Extensive yammering which attempts to explain every little detail about the aliens.
The Bad:
The Hidden
--I personally would've loved to see the alien a little more. But it's "hidden," so nuts to that.
--Some dialogue.
The Hidden2
--Very little chemistry between our heroes.
--Main hero guy is pretty nerdy.
--Sure, the alien is shown more, but for fuck sakes! The special effects should have improved in quality! They still feel like they're mid-80's puppets, here. We have a six-legged alien "thing" that we get to see moving around and what does it look like? A shaved, partially mutilated dead rat in rigor mortis. The legs barely move!
--Insipid love story.
--Clumsey, infantile hero.
--The evil alien spends very little time doing anything. Mostly walking around talking like an idiot or slowly gestating inside of someone allowing for very little action.
--Scene where heroine has a nightmare--of images she never saw while awake! She's seeing somethng in her nightmare that only we viewers saw!
The Ugly:
The Hidden
--When we see what the good-guy alien looks like. Oooo! A creature made of light particles!!
The Hidden2
--Several story problems--for one: There are several evil alien larva sitting unprotected which are just not killed--they're deliberately ignored or the search for them is just done immensly poorly. This alien good guy travelled all through space to do a half-assed job, did he? Well, that's what he's doing. It'll take literally a minute or two to kill the remaining sleeping larva after he kills just one. So what does he do? "I'm tired, let's go," basically. And he leaves! Three times he does this! This is the most procrastinating alien I've ever seen!
--Most of the "we're lovers now" dialogue.
--At least 2 sex scenes with zero nudity. An R-rated horror film with sex and no nudity? What the hell?
Memorable Scene:
The Hidden
--The film's nice climax.
The Hidden2
--Seeing the credits start.
(The Hidden on the left, Hidden 2 on the right)
Acting: 8/10 5/10
Story: 8/10 6/10
Atmosphere: 5/10 7/10
Cinematography: 6/10 5/10
Character Development: 8/10 4/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 6/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 1/10 1/10
Violence/Gore: 8/10 (lots of violence) 6/10 (less violence, more gore)
Sets/Backgrounds: 7/10 4/10
Dialogue: 8/10 5/10
Music: 7/10 6/10
Writing: 8/10 3/10
Direction: 8/10 3/10
Cheesiness: 3/10 6/10
Crappiness: 0/10 5/10
Overall: 8/10 4/10
Well, there you have it. This 2-movie DVD is worth getting for horror fans for the first movie alone (provided you don't pay too much. Over $15 is too much, $10 is about right). The first is a pretty good film, just light on the gore and a pretty weak overall atmosphere. The second, however, is weak in everything except atmosphere and gore--and those are only slightly better. If you can get the first movie alone, go for it. Classic 80's science fiction horror--with a touch of cop drama. The second is forgettable.
