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1993 - 93m.

This direct-to-video sequel spends its first ten minutes recapping the finale of 1987's surprisingly good original and while it does blend the footage together alright to continue on the story of alien invaders who've come to Earth to take over human bodies while a "good alien" is on their trail, it's soon all downhill for The Hidden II as it lacks the action scenes and inspiration of the first film - which has deservedly gone onto to be a cult favourite.

At the end of the first Hidden movie alien posing as FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan) had eliminated its evil counterpart, who was attempting to gain political power by taking over the body of a presidential candidate, with the help of human cop Tom Beck (Michael Nouri). But it seems the threat wasn't over as a stray dog wandering by the crime scene has picked up a tasty alien morsel that was lying on the ground. Soon enough the dog has been taken over by the alien being who hides on in an abandoned steel mill waiting for the right moment to spawn.

Flash forward to fifteen years later and Beck is certainly worse for wear as the detective (who's aging rapidly due to the fact Gallagher transferred himself into his body so he wouldn't die) has become a hermit obsessed with making sure the events of the original don't happen again. But he gets wind of the steel mill's "spawning ground" and goes to eliminate the threat, however he's killed by the body-switching creature (who's jumped into the body of a two-bit wannabe rave promoter).

Into the picture comes MacLachlan (Raphael Sbarge, given a character name I'm sure writer-director Seth Pinsker found "witty"), a new alien agent sent to Earth who has to team-up with Beck's now grown daughter (Kate Hodge) in order to track down the alien menace and stop it from spawning.

The Hidden II isn't the worst sequel, but it's just so uninspired and lacking in the things that made the first one so damn fun that you have to wonder why they even bothered making it (apart from the obvious answer of "cash-in"). Gone are the constant car chases, gunfights, and loud music of the original as Pinsker instead decides to build up a completely out-of-place love angle between Sbarge and Hodge's characters that sees such cloyingly dumb things as her teaching him how to brush his teeth (while he tries to sexualize the moment). It's mis-steps like this that will insult the fans of the first movie the most.

As if it wasn't enough Pinsker decides to only make his alien villain behave like the original movie's did during a few random moments near the beginning and in the last third, he's also tried to give the movie a vibe like John Carpenter's The Thing by having people be able to identify if someone is infected by sniffing and checking the thickness of their blood. This works about as well as the whole "love angle" does, but then again not too much works that well in The this.

Where are the action sequences? I don't want to be bored watching a sequel to a movie that packed those suckers in! And when Pinsker does decide to throw you a bone and do a few action scenes they're weakly staged and completely implausible (you're telling me nobody would notice Sbarge shooting up a guy in the middle of a dance floor at a rave?). And it also has to say something when the creature effects look terrible compared to the first movie - a movie that was made six years earlier.

Not to be completely down on the movie, because like I said I've seen worse, but it's hard not to be when you're following a film that did so many things right. And the acting here just can't compare either with Sbarge turning in a poor performance that consists of plenty distant stares off into space and a lot of "Runnn!!" screams. Hodge (who played the main role in the third Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie) isn't much better and really doesn't have much purpose.

The adrenaline is gone, the originality has left the building, and there's no "oomph" to the proceedings making The Hidden II (like the alien creature's human hosts) a mere empty shell. (Chris Hartley, 11/12/05)

Directed By: Seth Pinsker.
Written By: Seth Pinsker.

Starring: Raphael Sbarge, Kate Hodge, Jovin Montanaro, Christopher Murphy.