HOLLOW MAN

Kevin Bacon 

HOLLOW MAN (2000). Director: Paul Verhoeven. 

Brilliant scientist Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) leads a team working on developing invisibility for military purposes. Caine takes the plunge and decides to inject himself with the formula, but a man who was already a bit of a conscienceless egomaniac turns into a dangerous and violent megalomaniac when attempts to make him visible again fail. In a nod to H. G. Wells' classic novel The Invisible Man, Caine goes on a reign of terror, trapping the other scientists in their underground bunker and taking after them one by one. Will anyone be left alive when the dust clears?

Elisabeth Shue

Hollow Man received some criticism because it follows a tried and true path instead of treading new territory in its treatment of invisibility. But on its own terms the movie works beautifully as a modern retelling of Wells' tale and as a thriller with many exciting scenes --especially a breathless climax in an elevator shaft -- along with superb special effects showing animals and humans disappearing as muscles, organs and bones, the covering flesh vanishing, are gradually revealed. The movie has a fast pace and nary a dull moment. 

Dickens, Brolin, Shue, Grunberg, Slotnick

Bacon gives an excellent and energetic performance, and is matched by a feisty Elisabeth Shue as a co-worker who used to be his lover. Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens, Greg Grunberg, Joey Slotnick and Mary Randle are also good as the other members of the team, and William Devane scores in a small role as another scientist overseeing the project from afar. Some of the characters are a bit cold-blooded and there are questionable scenes regarding some of Sebastian's sleazy actions. However, this is a very entertaining  and well-made picture with stunning and Oscar-nominated FX work, Nice score by Jerry Goldsmith, too. The 2020 film The Invisible Man was another notable Wells-influenced thriller. 

Verdict: Visibly exciting thriller. ***. 

AMSTERDAMNED

 

Huub Stapel and Wim Zomer

AMSTERDAMNED (1988). Written and directed by Dick Maas. 

A maniac wearing a scuba diving outfit is swimming the many canals of Amsterdam, emerging to carve up a lot of innocent people, male and female. Detective Eric Visser (Huub Staple) joins forces with old friend and rival John van Meegeren (Wim Zomer) of the river police to track down the killer. This unknown person always seems one step ahead of the authorities. In the meantime Eric begins a relationship with beautiful diver Laura (Monique van de Ven), who has a friendship with her psychiatrist, Martin (Hidde Maas). The story culminates in a wild and exciting speedboat chase through the canals but the killer may be closer to home than Eric realizes. 

The spooky canals at night

Amsterdamned is an imperfect but worthwhile thriller and borderline horror film with good performances and interesting and unpredictable developments. One of the movie's flaws is a fairly ridiculous sequence when the killer manages to completely behead one poor guy -- underwater, no less -- in what seems a matter of seconds; the logistics are just impossible and it all looks and comes off as phony as can be. Other murder sequences, such as a protracted sequence on a boat with an old man listening to Il trovatore on his record player, and a briefer scene when a woman's float is pierced by a butcher knife from the water below, are more effective (although the latter scene is a bit tasteless). The long speedboat chase is the decided highlight of the film, and there is also a creepy sequence when Eric explores a sewer tunnel in search of the devious perpetrator. Eric is a pretty terrible father who leaves his young daughter alone to get into mischief on a regular basis. Dick Maas also wrote and directed the unpleasant Shaft. 

NOTE: Amsterdamned 2 is in pre-production and due for release in 2025. Huub Staple again stars as a now-retired cop who teams with a female officer to take down a new murderer haunting the canals. 

Verdict: Scenic views of Amsterdam interspersed with murders, maniacs, and thrilling chases. ***. 

ROUND UP OF NEW AND RECENT FILMS PART SEVEN

The Joker meets Boy Batman

ROUND UP OF NEW AND RECENT FILMS PART SEVEN.

Joker (2019). Not a "super-hero" film as such, Joker looks at the life of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) and shows how he transformed into Batman's arch-enemy, the clown-faced, maniacal Joker. Essentially this is a slow if absorbing study of a lonely and mentally-unstable outsider with show biz aspirations, a horrible mother, and a childhood full of abuse. Batman is still a child at the time this takes place, and Arthur wrongly imagines that he is Bruce Wayne's half-brother. Made fun of by talk show host and comic Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), he winds up a guest on the show with predictable results. Arthur is presented as an angry victim with some legitimate grievances, but his being turned into a champion of the poor and downtrodden is utterly ludicrous and just doesn't work. Very well-acted by Phoenix and De Niro, Joker is by no means a bad movie -- although it's not always well-paced -- but Best Picture ...? No. Directed by Todd Phillips, this has an interesting score by Hildur Guanodottir. Unless you're a total geek, you'll probably forget about the movie five minutes after you see it. **3/4.

Downton Abbey (2019) revisits the Crawley family from the very popular TV series and works effectively as an especially long episode. The King and Queen are going to spend the night at the estate, and everyone is thrown into a tizzy, especially the servants, who are told that the King's staff will take over and that even the cook, Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), will have to temporarily turn in her apron. They aren't going to take that lying down! Meanwhile handsome butler Barrow (Robert James-Collier) is also temporarily shunted aside by retired Carson (Jim Carter), but Barrow finds a like-soul after he's caught in a raid on a gay bar. (Barrow is a much more sympathetic character in this than when he was first introduced.) Violet (Maggie Smith) is appalled that a relative is going to leave her fortune to a maid -- goodness! -- instead of Violet's son, but discovers the reason why. And a sneak thief is stealing various items from the household. One could quibble about certain aspects of the story, but for the most part Downton Abbey is delightful and beautifully acted, with equal parts charm, class and sentiment. Directed by Michael Engler. ***1/4.