Sci-fi and horror are a perfect, unsettling match. The two genres merge often-isolated settings and speculative technology with primal fear to create a perfect balance of curiosity and terror. While movies like Alien, The Thing, and Annihilation are some of the best, other films in the subgenre have been overlooked, including one whose time on streaming is running out. Three months after joining the platform, a forgotten gem of early 2000s sci-fi horror is getting ready to leave Netflix.
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If you’ve never seen Hollow Man or have simply forgotten about its existence, now is the perfect time to watch it. Paul Verhoeven’s overlooked 2000 sci-fi horror thriller is getting ready to leave Netflix on March 1st, meaning there are just a few more days left to fit in a final watch. The movie stars Kevin Bacon as Dr. Sebastian Caine, a brilliant but arrogant molecular biologist who becomes invisible after testing a secret serum he’s developed on himself. He begins a descent into madness when he’s unable to reverse the process, using his newfound power to stalk, torment, and kill his colleagues.
Hollow Man Is a Visually Stunning Sci-Fi Horror Film Worth Rediscovering
Hollow Man was generally dismissed upon its release. Although the movie was far from a box office failure, grossing $190 million worldwide, it flopped with critics and audiences at the time and only holds respective 25% and 28% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, lending to the fact that it eventually largely faded from public consciousness compared to other films of that era. That’s really a shame, though, given the fact that Hollow Man is a high-budget, well-acted, and visually spectacular movie that deserves more recognition and a solid overlooked gem that deserves more recognition.
When it comes to Hollow Man, the first thing worth mentioning isn’t necessarily the plot, which admittedly cements it as a fun but illogical guilty pleasure, but its dark, 25-year-old visuals that still hold up. The detailed, layered transformation scenes, displaying muscles and organs as Caine shifts from human to visible sinew to invisible, were far ahead of their time and still hold up remarkably well. The movie also deserves plenty of recognition for its intense atmosphere, the movie effectively building dread through its largely confined setting and Jerry Goldsmith’s moody score, helping it successfully transition shifts from a sci-fi thriller into a claustrophobic, intense slasher in the final act. As for the acting? Well, Bacon delivers a committed, unhinged performance through the psychological breakdown of Caine that is definitely a highlight of the film.
Where to Stream Hollow Man After It Leaves Netflix?
If you’re a fan of sci-fi horror, you’ll want to stream Hollow Man while you still can. The movie doesn’t currently stream outside of Netflix, and it hasn’t yet appeared in the March lineups for any other major streamer. A few platforms haven’t yet released their newsletters for next month, so it’s still possible that Hollow Man will simply move to a different platform, but that isn’t guaranteed. Outside of streaming platforms, Hollow Man is also available to rent or purchase online.
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Official art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme -
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Image courtesy of Tor Books/Macmillan -
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