Film

The Hidden

Name: The Hidden
Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Horror
Released: 1987
Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri, Ed O'Ross, Claudia Christian, William Boyett

A gleefully trashy sci-fi body-horror thriller where an alien parasite hijacks people into wild crime sprees. Kyle MacLachlan plays it entirely straight as an FBI agent hunting an invisible threat, while the film luxuriates in practical grotesquerie and B-movie absurdity. It's a blast if you like your horror sticky and your premise high-concept but dumb.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a mismatched odd-couple police partnership, the kind where two clashing temperaments trade quips while chasing something strange through gritty nocturnal city streets.

Skip it if you want a tightly plotted thriller, since the investigation is loose and episodic, and the lurid excess and dated effects can feel more silly than frightening.

What it asks of you: It runs about ninety-seven minutes and moves briskly, with loose, sometimes sleazy energy that rewards going with its odd rhythms rather than tracking every clue.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

They Live1988

Carpenter's alien-invasion parable with the same blend of social paranoia, practical FX mayhem, and anarchic humour. It takes its ridiculous premise seriously and makes that sincerity the joke.

But Slow in the first half, and Rowdy Roddy Piper is no one's idea of a subtle actor, which is partly the point but tests patience.

Videodrome1983

Cronenberg's body-horror mindbender about media, desire, and physical mutation. Like The Hidden, it's genuinely unsettling beneath the schlock, using disgusting practical effects to explore real dread.

But Deliberately obscure and allegorical. If you want plot clarity or conventional resolution, look elsewhere. Watching it feels like a fever dream.

Bad Boys1995

Michael Bay's unpretentious buddy-cop action film with the same propulsive, ridiculous energy. Two leads sparring while chasing an alien—sorry, a criminal—through a city. Pure momentum, zero apology.

But It's loud, dumb, and occasionally cruel. If explosive action sequences bore you, this is an endurance test.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Hidden

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Liquid Sky1982

Both are low-budget sci-fi films where an invisible alien presence triggers human behavior in disturbing ways; the difference is Liquid Sky makes the alien's perspective the actual point, not the plot device.

A UFO hovers over New York City while a heroin addict and a punk-rock fashion photographer navigate desire, addiction, and alien observation. Experimental sci-fi fever dream that abandons plot for mood and visual strangeness.

But It's deliberately obscure, dialogue-light, and structurally refuses conventional narrative. Watching it feels like decoding a transmission rather than following a story.

Tremors1990

A small town faces giant underground worms. It has The Hidden's high-concept B-movie DNA, practical creature effects you can feel, and genuine wit. Monster movie that knows what it is and doesn't apologize.

But The horror elements are blunt and cartoonish. Some find it too silly to be scary; others find it perfect.

The Fly1986

Cronenberg's remake is body-horror sci-fi that takes its premise to devastating emotional depths. A scientist gradually transforms into a fly, and the practical FX are nauseating in the best way.

But The transformation sequences are graphic and genuinely disturbing. It's tragic in the end, not fun. Rewarding but heavy.

Nightbreed1990

Barker's creature film about a underground city of monsters. Like The Hidden, it blends horror with pulpy action, practical monsters you can touch, and a strange kind of sympathy for the grotesque.

But Editing was heavily cut by the studio. The film feels fragmented, and pacing stutters. You sense what it could have been.

Alien Nation1988

A buddy-cop film where one partner is literally an alien. It has The Hidden's premise of integrating the extraterrestrial into human crime drama, played mostly straight with flashes of humour.

But The fish-out-of-water premise wears thin without strong enough character work. It's adequate sci-fi, not compelling.

Hardware1990

A scrap-salvager unwraps a killer robot in her apartment. Grimy, practical, violent, and visually imaginative on a shoestring budget. The kind of overlooked sci-fi B-movie The Hidden occupies.

But Low budget shows everywhere. Pacing drags in the second act. Feels like watching someone else's fever dream rather than your own.

Enemy Mine1985

A human and alien soldier marooned together become dependent, then allies. It's earnest sci-fi adventure with practical puppetry and genuine heart, in the vein of creature-feature character work.

But The earnestness can feel dated and clunky. The alien prosthetics, once impressive, now look very 1985. Some find it saccharine.

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer2021

Both pair an outsider protagonist against institutional disbelief to investigate an invisible threat. But where The Hidden commits to action and gore, The Night Stalker commits entirely to dread and slow-burn investigation.

A TV movie that spawned a series: a cynical reporter investigates supernatural phenomena in Las Vegas while the skeptical authorities deny everything. Wonderful procedural paranoia, tight as a wound.

But 1970s television pacing. Episodes assume you'll watch week-to-week; binge-watching exposes repetitive structure. Network TV caution limits genuine scares.

Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer poster

Dead Poets Society1989

Both films weaponize body horror and practical creature FX as their primary language, treating biological grotesquerie as essential to meaning rather than mere spectacle.

A teenager suspects his wealthy family engages in literal body-melding rituals. Outrageous practical FX horror-comedy that fully commits to grotesque body-transformation imagery as social satire about class and belonging.

But The climax is deliberately ugly and absurdist. Its satire is blunt, and the final thirty minutes abandon plot coherence for pure visceral transgression.