A body hopping alien with a taste for loud music, fast cars and gratuitous violence – it must be the ‘80s!
The film is a buddy cop movie with only one half of the duo human, a bit like Alien Nation only good. Director Jack Sholder wastes no time getting things moving, in the first ten minutes we get a bank robbery and a superb car chase that sets the tone for the rest of the film.
There are some brilliantly staged action set pieces, excellent gross out effects and great performances from the two leads and from the people “possessed” by the alien, in particular William Boyett and Claudia Christian.
To me there has always been something a little odd about Kyle MacLachlan, he’s not an actor I’d find convincing in overtly emotional parts but here, and to a lesser extent in Twin Peaks, that works in his favour. As the alien half of the team he’s not completely emotionless, there is an inherent sadness in the character, but it’s subdued and MacLachlan plays it perfectly.
Michael Nouri gets the more traditional cop role, tough guy at work but a loving family man at home. He does a good job but it’s really MacLachlan and the alien villain’s film.
William Boyett as the second incarnation of the alien is simply brilliant. It’s a dialogue free role but you don’t need dialogue with a face like Boyett’s, it’s a part that goes from the comedic (farting in the restaurant) to the violent (stealing the car) but he’s perfect throughout. As the next host, Claudia Christian gives a memorably revealing performance that’s a world away from her most famous role in Babylon 5. In fact given the aliens trouble with the wind earlier it might explain Christina’s somewhat draughty choice of attire.
The script has some great dialogue but also a few plot holes (no x-rays in the hospital?) and things are tied up perhaps a little too neatly in the end, still it’s a great piece of ‘80s B movie style SF, the kind of thing we sadly don’t see very often anymore.
