Film Screening 16th June, 2001

Poster for Hollow Man

Hollow Man 

8:00 PM, 16th June, 2001

  • MA
  • 112 mins
  • 2000
  • Paul Verhoeven
  • Andrew W. Marlowe, Gary Scott Thompson
  • Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Bacon, Josh Brolin

Sebastian Caine (Bacon) is a scientist working with a team on making living things invisible. At the beginning of the film we see their success with making a gorilla invisible and then visible again. From here the logical step is to try it on a human. After being refused permission from the Pentagon to take the next step Sebastian volunteers to be a secret guinea pig. He becomes invisible in a very gross looking series of special effects as we watch him disappear layer by layer. OK so the order of layers disappearing is probably backwards but it wouldn't look as good the other way would it. So just forget that little issue. When the team are unable to return Sebastian to visibility he is at first a little upset but then sees the potential of his predicament. Unfortunately he also comes to the conclusion that the research team, the only people who know about the experiment, should be eliminated to protect his secret. From here the film degenerates into a typical slasher flick (not that there's anything wrong with that). The effects are great so it's still worth a look. I'm sure I will watch it again.

Jacinta Nicol

Poster for Urban Legend 2: Final Cut

Urban Legend 2: Final Cut 

10:02 PM, 16th June, 2001

  • MA
  • 98 mins
  • 2000
  • John Ottman
  • Paul Harris Boardman, Scott Derrickson
  • Jennifer Morrison. Matthew Davis, Hart Bochner, Loretta Devine

You're an executive with a horror franchise on your hands. The first film was pretty average, even if it did make an okay amount of money. So what do you do with the sequel? Cast a bunch of no-names and get the film directed by a well-regarded composer in his directing debut. But, to be fair, this isn't too bad. The premise - film students work on a slasher film where the killer uses urban legends as the modus operandi - works. Okay, so the one killing that is recognisable as an urban legend isn't connected to the plot overall, and it gets a bit difficult to tell some of the male characters apart. But, hey, there's a few decent jokes, some ludicrous plot twists and a really neat bit in the finale. It's certainly worth hanging around for unless you desperately need to rush home to worm the cat.

Simon Tolhurst