For this week’s blog, I will be writing about the movies Hollow Man (2000) and Basic Instinct (2002). Both movies were directed by Paul Vehoeven, a Dutch born filmmaker with a number of blockbuster movies to his credit (Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Starship Troopers and Elle). Vehoeven is best known for films with “outrageous sex and violence” making him and his movies prime targets for “moral outrage” (https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/feb/03/paul-verhoeven-mischievous-satire-elle). I found Roger Ebert’s single line summaries of both movies to be on point; Basic Instinct “Apart from the whodunit elements, the movie exists for its sexual content… “Hollow Man” uses the change simply as a stunt: Scientist becomes invisible, becomes sex fiend, goes berserk, and attacks everyone.” (https://www.rogerebert.com/cast-and-crew/paul-verhoeven)

The movies were released 2 years apart and had a number of similarities. Both films featured superstar casts. Hollow Man stared Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Shue. Basic Instinct stared Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone.  Although Hollow Man is categorized as a science fiction / thriller film it has elements of  a slasher film as it includes plenty of blood and guts and vicious attack scenes (see the behind the scenes movie clip below). As for Basic Instinct, it includes brutal murders by way of an ice pick (i.e., slasher style) and a couple of more murders by gun shot. Finally, both movies have an element of sexuality. The tag line from Hollow Man is “freedom to fulfill any desire with a backdrop of scantily clad women lying on a bed. Basic Instinct as stated above is “exists for sexual content”. The film includes graphic scenes of both heterosexual and lesbian sex. The graphic sexual behavior and violence appears to be part of the evolution of society and film that started in the 1970 with the “free love” era and continued through the 1990’s to what William Bibbiani, writing for Crave, identified “the 1990’s as the peak of the erotic thriller genre” (http://www.craveonline.com/site/813307-best-movie-ever-erotic-thrillers).

Based on the similarities, it might be assumed that the movies achieved similar success. While each film achieved notoriety, it is based on a very different set of circumstances. While Hollow Man was a profitable venture (production costs $95 M, revenue $190 M), it fell far behind Basic Instinct which achieved blockbuster status ($352.9 M in revenue with a cost of just $49 M). Based on the notion that sex and violence sell, I categorize both films as business motivated movies. From a critical review perspective, Hollow Man achieved recognition for special effects (making a person dissolve and become invisible was pretty cool). Basic Instinct is noteworthy for pushing the established moral standards for sexuality and violence. In fact, the film had to be edited to comply with audience rating requirements for an R rating. Though gay activists protested what they saw as Hollywood’s demonetization of two marginalized groups — bisexuals and women — feminists praised the film’s progressive sexual politics (http://www.like2do.com/learn?s=Basic_Instinct). The trailer for Basic Instinct is an excellent overview of not only the story line but also glimpses of sex and violence.

The New York Post reviewed both movies at their time of release. They were critical of Hollow Man by suggesting it was a “retread” of The Terminator (http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E2DF173CF937A3575BC0A9669C8B63). As for Basic Instinct they were critical of the pushing of the envelope on sex and violence (http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE7DE1F3DF933A15750C0A964958260). I consider both movies to be mainstream movies due to having star powered casts, elements of sex and violence and box office success. In the year between the releases of the two movies perhaps the most significant events in US history occurred – the attacks on the World Trade Centers. Basic Instinct was release the year after 9/11 and is very plausible that American society had pent up anger and frustration that needed release and Basic Instinct provided a distraction for what was occurring in the world which helped drive its success.