All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Hollow man is all about Kevin Bacon's character and what happens if power is in the wrong hands. Some great opportunity affects in this film which allows the the hollow man to become visible, one of Hollywoods cheesy better one's.

The opening credits feature pictures of molecules and scrambled letters. This is another movie where someone tests some ridiculous experiment on himself and thing go awry. These guys never seem to understand that they will become entrapped inside their new character. To make my point, refer to the following stories: "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide," "The Invisible Man," and "The Fly." In "Hollow Man" Kevin Bacon stars as Sebastian Caine, who is an egocentric and unethical scientist. He heads a six-unit research and development team whose purpose is to make living things invisible, and vice versa (reversion). The crew, entirely financed under the auspices of the Pentagon, includes ex-girlfriend Linda McKay (Elizabeth Shue) and her current suitor Matthew Kensington (Josh Brolin). Ignoring procedures and rules, Sebastian decides to initiate human testing – on himself. On making history he tells his staff, "You make it by seizing the moment!" So he is the first human guinea pig. He does no real good in his new situation. One of his first acts as an invisible man is to unbutton the blouse of the dozing, high strung co-worker Bianca (Kim Dickens) and squeeze a boob. Ten days into the experiment, he cannot get back to his original self and his behavior becomes depraved with violent streaks. At least a latex skin is poured over him to give him a humanoid look. He has been enamored with a well-endowed, attractive single woman (Rhona Mitra) who lives just across from him in another unit of his apartment building. Debauched, and as he cannot be seen, he decides to force his way onto her. How she inadvertently admits him in the first place is totally ridiculous: She sees no one through the door peephole and ventures outside her apartment while dank and wearing just a housecoat, and while wondering who rang the doorbell. Of course he easily sleazes in and rapes her. Sebastian's mind continues to degenerate. He becomes murderous and begins to stalk his own team after they decide to turn him over to their superiors. Now the movie morphs into a slasher flick as team members are picked off one by one in the expected order. Will the madman be stopped before they are all dead? Who cares? Special effects are the real stars here. There is a nice opening sequence with a visible rat: it slinks along to a water dish before being quickly snatched and killed by an invisible predator. Early on an invisible gorilla becomes visible after an irradiated serum injection. As the injected chemical fans out throughout the bloodstream, body parts gradually become visible, revealing layers of tissue, muscle, fat, bone, organs, and skin. But filmmakers like Paul Verhoeven must realize that great visual effects do not by themselves equate to an enjoyable motion picture experience. Thus, on the negative side the acting is so-so, and there is little, if any, chemistry between the two protagonist leads, Shue and Brolin. Worse, the characters are not especially likable. Then there is the story-line that deteriorates into absurdity.

A 21st-century updating of THE INVISIBLE MAN with the added bonus of state-of-the-art special effects? It's a plan which sounds like it can't fail. Unfortunately for us, though, it does fail, and fans of director Paul Verhoeven are in for a big letdown. Eschewing his patented over-the-top gore, seen in the likes of ROBOCOP and STARSHIP TROOPERS, Verhoeven gives us a middling film which is only too happy to rip off most of its plot points from other, better productions.Instead of having his invisible fiend on the loose in an unsuspecting world, the scriptwriter decided to place most of the action inside an underground laboratory. Like we haven't seen that one before. This immediately loses much of the interest which could have been aroused had the plot taken a different, unconventional direction. As it is, HOLLOW MAN soon descends into typical slasher territory, with a group of people trapped in a single location and being stalked by an unstoppable killer.With a plot like this you can guess most of what will happen and very rarely does the film surprise or shock. One interesting angle of the story is to focus on the 'Peeping Tom' style voyeurism of Kevin Bacon's character, as he spies on undressing neighbours and fondles a sleeping woman while invisible. But even the horror of the climatic attack (and apparent rape) of a neighbour is ruined by some slap-dash editing which leaves the outcome to your imagination and makes you think "what?!".Elsewhere, the acting fails to impress on all accounts. Elizabeth Shue is a boring heroine with little to impress in the way of charisma or personality. Josh Brolin is instantly forgettable as yet another bespectacled scientist, while none of the other characters are ever developed beyond basics - they're just there to be killed by Bacon. Bacon himself is off screen most of the time, and to be honest his performance is pretty forgettable too. Most unforgivable though, is the total waste of William Devane in a cameo appearance.Where this film does succeed are the special effects, which are, of course, top-notch. Highlights include some startling regenerations and disappearances of a gorilla and Bacon himself, which are the finest ever put to screen and pretty disturbing (due to the fact that the subjects of the experiments are in agony while this happens). The SFX wizards also take full advantage of having the invisible man in a swimming pool, getting burnt, covered in blood etc, to show as much of him as possible, if you see what I mean. Gone are the quaint cigarettes on wires, we now have a partially invisible murderer soaked in blood and killing. Subtle it ain't.The lack of gore is another big disappoint, and there's nothing here that you won't see in a typical slasher-fest. Probably the best bit comes when a nerdy scientist is impaled (from behind) on a metal bar of some sort, but that's about it. All in all it's a hollow experience, but worth watching just to see what the (very) special effects are like.

A group of scientists led by arrogant but brilliant Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) make a breakthrough on their research into invisibility. But before proper testing can be done Caine impatiently pushes forward with experimenting on a human and volunteers himself as the guinea pig. The experiment appears to work and Caine becomes an invisible man, savoring his newfound ability and using it in inappropriate ways. But when the procedure to make him visible again fails, Caine's mind starts to experience side effects that make him violent and dangerous.Essentially an updated version of the Invisible Man story. Not surprisingly, since this is directed by Paul Verhoeven, there is a lot of focus on the sexual aspect of a man becoming invisible. Particularly that he uses his new situation to become a super pervert and rapist. Pretty much every woman in the cast is molested or worse. While the movie doesn't condone these actions, it is obvious that this is the part of the story that fascinates Verhoeven the most. It's kind of icky and exploitative. Kevin Bacon gives a particularly sleazy performance as Caine. Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, and Kim Dickens are all fine but none of the characters in this are written as relatable or likable. Rhona Mitra has a bit part as Caine's neighbor and victim. I don't believe she had any lines and appeared to have been cast just for how nice her breasts are.Despite the disturbing elements, it's a watchable movie of its type. The special effects are decent given the time in which this was made when CGI was still often spotty. Honestly the most impressive effects aren't that different from the impressive effects of older Invisible Man movies. The second half is probably better than the first. It's essentially 'slasher 101' with Caine going after his colleagues. Yes, it's predictable, but it's well-done and somewhat exciting. Could've done without Jerry Goldsmith's obtrusive generic score, though.