Somewhere between The Thing and The Terminator lies… The Hidden (1987). I have a strong memory of the VHS in my local video store being adorned with a “Recommended” sticker, which always jumped out at me, particularly for movies that I’d never heard of or felt had received a cinema release, and getting that extra seal of approval from a video clerk. Only years later thanks to late night television would I finally understand why. Ordinary citizens have started cutting loose, prefiguring Grand Theft Auto gameplay by going wild robbing banks, stealing luxury cars, shotgunning bystanders and facing off cops in high speed pursuits. While frustrated tough guy detective Michael Nouri is trying to put the pieces together, a strange fresh-faced FBI agent with a new wave hairdo is here to lend a hand. Kyle McLachlan is one of those actors who, when they have the right role, become transcendent, and before he was Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, he got to play a weirdo fed who may be from another world, and is absolutely perfect, appealingly off-kilter and sweetly naive. This New Line production is a moderately budgeted sci-fi action thriller gem as Nouri and McLachlan go buddy cop over an alien life force who likes to rock out to Earth music and leave death and destruction in their boombox-carrying wake. Great parade of supporting players including Claudia Christian, Ed O’Ross, Chris Mulkey, Clu Glauger, and even Danny Trejo in a one minute scene as a prisoner. Directed by Jack Sholder (A Nightmare On Elm Street 2) and written by Jim Kouf (National Treasure, Rush Hour). Available to rent on iTunes. Recommended.
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