I feel like there is an aspect where you see an actor that you recognize from other work and who makes an impact that's like, “Oh well, this is in good hands. I'm an actor, but I'm an audience member first. It's just like, “Oh yeah.” As an actor myself it's always. He was a chief of police who hated Jim Rockford, played by James Gardner. “I'm a cowboy, even though I’m a police chief.” But yeah, it's great. It's a small role, but he had to wear his cowboy boots to remind you who he was. Case in point: Clu Gulagar pops in and out for some brief but memorable scenes as the police chief. But what Davis appreciates most is in how, similar to other films through the late ’00s, Sholder casts character actors of the ’60s and ’70s to elevate otherwise throwaway scenes. The Hidden is also chock-full of appearances by genre mainstays, from the prerequisite New Line appearance by Lin Shaye to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spot from a young Danny Trejo. But when the sci-fi elements come into it, I can't help but to think they're doing a lot of serious heavy lifting that, at the time, most would have played frivolously, if that makes sense. This film is serving that, it's serving that up in a tongue-in-cheek way, that perfect, gritty, ’80s West Coast urban way that it can.
crime city, and all the action hero tropes. I think of the movie Last Action Hero where it's this heightened L.A. Everyone is playing it seriously, even though it's like. Everyone is playing to the intelligence of the script, written by Jim Kouf. But he also notes that it’s thoughtfully written given the premise and that everyone involved takes it seriously.įor what it is, it’s very well done. Beck realizes that not all is as it seems with Gallagher, either, as the duo reluctantly team up to catch this interstellar fugitive before it can wreak even more chaos.įor those who think this plot seems a little silly, Davis would likely agree. As it turns out, said criminal is an extraterrestrial insect that can pass from body to body, using various hosts to indulge in its destructive impulses until the body is used up and it finds another one. While Beck is ready to call the case closed, he’s pulled back in by FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan), who claims the real criminal is still at large. In The Hidden, we open with gruff Los Angeles detective Thomas Beck (Michael Nouri) leading the chase for Jack DeVries (Chris Mulkey), a man with no criminal past who suddenly went on a killing spree, culminating in a shootout with police that leaves DeVries near death. While there are certainly similarities to JGTH, The Hidden is more akin to the sci-fi police procedurals that came out in the late ’80s such as Alien Nation or another favorite of Davis’, The Peacemaker. Anyway, it seemed like a no-brainer to watch The Hidden for a discussion with Davis, who credits it as one of those childhood movies where “anytime it's on, you stop what you were doing and you would watch.” ( Spoiler Alert: we’ll be discussing major plot points). I’ve had The Hidden on my radar ever since I heard it described as a better version of Jason Goes to Hell, a movie I probably would have enjoyed a lot more as a standalone film rather than trying to tell me after eight movies that Jason Voorhees is actually a parasitic worm that inhabits new hosts after ritualistically shaving them.
Given Davis’ eclectic mix of horror and sci-fi inspirations, I was excited when he recommended Jack Sholder’s 1987 film, The Hidden.
THE HIDDEN MOVIE INTERGALACTIC COP SERIES
Horror fans should also check him out in the short film Page One, the Stakes is High essay series that he wrote to explore hate and fascism through the lens of vampire films, and his video " Your 21st Century Woke Horror Host: Addison Hadley." He’s currently featured on Peacock’s The Amber Ruffin Show, where his horror sensibilities can’t help but peek through from time to time. Welcome back to Let’s Scare Bryan to Death! Joining us this month is Tarik Davis, a writer and actor whose work stretches across media platforms, from film and television to online content and even stage productions.