Hidden vs. Fallen vs. Shocker - The Hidden (1987) Discussion

[–] petekrug17 17 years ago

Fallen was probably the most intelligent of the three, though I really love both Shocker and The Hidden for their high-octain action and kick-ass music.

The Hidden is a bit different than the other two in that it's a sci-fi explaination rather than a supernatural one.

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[–] PapaT_86 16 years ago

I loved all three. I will grant that Fallen is probably the most intelligent, but I think The Hidden is the most accomplished and entertaining, and it remains fairly intelligent (unlike Shocker which gets truly silly at some points) and it's allegorical elements are handled well.

On a more low rent theme The Horror Show (a.k.a. House 3(!)) and Ghost in the Machine explored similar themes.

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[–] hu675 16 years ago

I argee The Hidden is the best one of the three movies. I also loved Shocker for me, it's one of the most entertaining films of Wes Craven. Fallen was certainly well acted but then the movie really slow down (despite an strong cast) and the ending is unsatifysing.

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[–] elavats-1 12 years ago

I haven't seen Shocker but liked both Hidden & Fallen. Between the two, I have to give the nod to Fallen.

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[–] a_torres23 12 years ago

1. The Hidden
2. Fallen
3. Shocker

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[–] FridayOnElmStreet 11 years ago

1. Shocker 10/10
2. The Hidden 7/10
3. Fallen 4/10

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[–] darthkarl66 10 years ago

The Hidden is my favorite by far. Fallen was watchable. Shocker was a bit low-rent for me.

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[–] jsttc 10 years ago

1. Fallen 8/10
2. The Hidden 6/10
3. Shocker ?/10

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[–] kcott44 8 years ago

I like to add two more films - The Horror Show and Destroyer considering they are very similar to the three films you mentioned.

1. The Hidden - 8/10
2. Shocker - 7/10
3. Fallen - 5.5/10
4. The Horror Show - 5/10
5. Destroyer - 5/10

The Hidden is by far the best film out of the bunch, I have only seen it once but it had a great sense of humor and when it was serious, it worked. It was also insanely entertaining and it had me cheering at the finale. I grew up with Shocker and I do think it is an underrated horror film, the protagonist and antagonist are both severely underrated as characters and performances. The only scene I never liked was the god awful "switching channels" scene. Fallen certainly had the highest budget and was extremely well made with a good performance from Washington but the ending really rubbed me the wrong way (I like downbeat endings when they are done right) but here, it just felt anticlimactic.

The Horror Show and Destroyer are timewasters, in the former's case, it benefited from surrealistic scenes and a good performance by Lance Henrikson (Plus, it's always nice to see him in a lead role) but the film suffered from poor pacing and stuff you have seen a thousand times. As for the latter, it was pretty entertaining in a so bad it's entertaining way, it was sleazy enough to be passable in my book plus you have Anthony Perkins.