Hollow Man

Post Modern horror…there are many examples of it, and many arguments as to what it is. My question is…does ‘Hollow Man’ (2000), a high-concept, multi-genre Hollywood film fit the shoes of a post-modern horror? ‘Hollow Man’ was something of a mixed entity on its millennium release. On one hand it was a forgettable action thriller with cardboard characters and an unrealistic narrative. But on the other, it was an intriguing addition to science fiction horror of the postmodern era. In explaining the narrative, there is a sense of revelation. If researched in-depth, numerous themes and events can be seen to coincide, if not adhere to, a post-modern framework. If it does indeed follow the ‘correct’ set of conventions set by the horror genre, then this journey of explaining what is to some, a ‘forgettable American film’, becomes something a little more special.

Back in 2000, Director Paul Verhoeven, whose work includes ‘RoboCop’ (1987), ‘Total Recall’ (1990) and ‘Starship Troopers’ (1997), embarked on a story loosely inspired by H.G. Wells’ the ‘Invisible Man’. ‘Hollow Man’ opens with the introduction of the main protagonist Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon). He appears to be a normal, hardworking man with a goal; the goal of unlocking the key to invisibility. Having successfully turned Gorillas invisible in tests, he and his enthusiastic team of scientists ask their military funders for permission to move onto human testing. When refused, Caine becomes angry and goes ahead with the test regardless, on his own body. The test is successful. However, the serum designed to bring him back into the visible world fails, and until the team can create a new serum, he is stuck being completely transparent. In this state, he soon becomes paranoid, aggressive, and eventually extremely violent. It is this theme of paranoia that most prominently links the film to conventions of the postmodern horror genre.

‘Hollow Man’ is widely regarded as an action thriller. It would be narrow minded however to categorise it that simply. With subgenres crammed into the story, it contains far more intelligent science fiction horror elements than most would initially admit. And it is of these aspects one wishes to pay closer attention to. Postmodern theory itself, in regard to horror films, is considered to have evolved from a major change in the genre around the mid-20th century. Horror has always been looked upon as a disreputable genre, akin to pornography. In the same way that science fiction can represent social issues, horror frequently addresses them full on without much interference, due to its reputation; something seen as early as ‘Cat People’ in 1942, which explored repression of female sexuality in society at the time.

It was in the 1960s that many believe horror changed from ‘secure’ to ‘paranoid’. Films such as ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (1956) suggested an increased fear from internal invasion and the suspicious attitude that everyone was a threat. This was brought on from a fear of Communist spread, where anyone could have been converted. Within this paranoid genre was a sense of instability, open ended narratives and blurring of the boundary between what was good and evil. ‘Hollow Man’, in many ways, follows this trend. From the onset of ‘Hollow Man’, the audience is invited to sympathise with Caine and his plight. He is presented as the main character, a normal man with no classic signs of being the ‘monster’. We grow to like him and agree with his actions. Caine however becomes a very different character by the end of the film. Whilst being invisible he becomes increasingly frustrated. His paranoia of the people around him grows out of control. It is perhaps relevant to refer to Andrew Tudor, a huge contributor to postmodern theory, who says that one element to look out for is ‘escalating disorder’. Another influential theorist, Tania Modleski suggests post-modern ‘favours the point of view of the slashers and killers. And this seems almost true. By the end of the film, some people may find themselves routing for Caine, no matter how evil he becomes, simply because of the way the narrative draw us to his cause. Caine is without doubt the monster in this horror. In one scene he rapes an innocent female neighbour and does not feel an ounce of guilt afterwards: even joking about it with a friend. The fact that this monster came out of nowhere with no warning suggests an internal threat and a blurring of the line between what is considered good and evil, both elements of a post-modern horror.

His invisibility is the perfect metaphor for the paranoid theme of ‘everyone is a suspect’. Examples can be seen in scenes where his fellow scientists fear him being in the room and not knowing exactly where he could be. The 1982 film ‘The Thing’ explores this same concept where the invasive alien can infect anyone at any time, making everyone a potential enemy.

Tudor lists various other themes consistent with a post-modern paranoid horror, including ‘unreliable authorities’, ‘inefficient expertise’ and a ‘victim’s group organisation’. ‘Hollow Man’ can be seen to contain them all in some form. The military, seen as the authorities, are very much unreliable. For the most part they have no idea these experiments have been performed on Caine, so therefore cannot help. Even when they do find out through character Howard Kramer (William Devane), he is soon killed off by Caine. The scientists themselves are slowly picked off in ever gorier ways; their attempts at survival becoming more inefficient by the death. The group can therefore be seen as the ‘victim’s group organisation’.

Another element worth pointing out is one spearheaded by Carol Clover. She states that a strong element of paranoid horror is the theme of the ‘final girl’. She argues that the psycho killer is sexually disturbed. Caine is sexually frustrated over his past lover Linda (Elisabeth Shue) having a relationship with colleague Matthew (Josh Brolin); launching an entire subplot where he spies on the new lovers and eventually tries to kill them. Linda can be considered the ‘final girl’ because she survives the monster’s attacks whilst the others do not. Clover also recognises the idea of a ‘terrible place’. She suggests that the psycho is connected to this place, which is more often than not an underground dungeon or basement. This is reminiscent of the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (1974) and Leatherface’s basement used for butchering his victims. In this same style, Caine is indeed connected to his underground laboratory, which, using his distinct knowledge of the place, is able to stay one step ahead of his victims.

Despite these vast links to post-modern horror conventions, some things do not quite fit. For one, the narrative of this film is not open ended. Caine is killed by Linda and the laboratory destroyed. She and her new lover survive, and the whole time this is achieved because she managed to survive, which doesn’t suggest any inefficient expertise. Both inconsistencies scream overwhelming Hollywood intervention. Another small problem is the cinematography. Where many post-modern horrors make use of CCTV/DVtape footage styles, such as ‘28 Weeks Later’ (2007), ‘Wolf Creek’ (2005) and ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999), ‘Hollow Man’ maintains a glossy Hollywood look, putting it more in tune with action spectacle rather than gritty postmodern horror. This is a confused film; often betraying its horror roots for a typical action blockbuster, interested more in showing off its special effects than conforming to any sort of prescribed genre theory. However, this does not mean the film’s postmodern elements should be written off. The idea that horror is either secure or paranoid has often been criticised for its reductionist quality. Horror is always reinventing itself, so the need to conform perfectly to a set of conventions in order to qualify as postmodern is arguably too strict a statement.

‘Hollow Man’ was not a particularly successful film. Commercially it failed to regain its expensive budget within the US; relying on international sales to recoup costs. Criticism was strong towards its sexual content and graphical violence; something that surely supports horror’s disreputable status as a genre. Postmodern horror has evolved more recently into ‘slasher’ movies like ‘Scream’ (1996) and the new ‘torture porn’ genre (Saw, 2004, Resident Evil, 2002, The Devils Rejects, 2005, and Hostel, 2005), so the criticisms are ironically beneficial to its horror aspects. Despite all this, I believe the film is a surprisingly good example of a postmodern horror, and that alone demands at least some acclaim.

Watch

Country: USA
Budget: £64 million
Length: 112mins

Bibliography:
Modleski, T (2000) ‘The Terror of Pleasure: The contemporary Horror Film and Post-modern Theory’ in Gelder, K. (ed.) The Horror Reader, London: Routledge
Tudor, A (2002) ‘From Paranoia to Postmodernism? The Horror Movie in Late Modern Societ in Neale, S (ed.) Genre and Contemporary Hollywood, London: BFI p 105-116.

Filmography:
‘Hollow Man’, 2000, Paul Verhoeven, Columbia Pictures
‘Robocop’, 1987, Paul Verhoeven, Orion Pictures
‘Total Recall’, 1990, Paul Verhoeven, TriStar Pictures
‘Starship Troopers’, 1997, Paul Verhoeven, TriStar Pictures and Touchstone Pictures
'Saw', 2004, James Wan, Lionsgate Entertainment
‘Hostel’, 2005, Eli Roth, Lionsgate
‘The Devils Rejects’, 2005, Rob Zombie, Lions Gate Films and Maple Pictures
‘Resident Evil’, 2002, Paul WS Anderson, Screen Gems
‘Scream’, 1996, Wes Craven, Dimension Films
‘The Thing’, 1982, John Carpenter, MCA and Universal Pictures
‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, 1974, Tobe Hooper, New Line Cinema
‘Cat People’, 1942, Jacques Tourneur, RKO Radio Pictures Inc
‘28 weeks later’, 2007, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Fox Atomic
‘Wolf Creek’, 2005, Greg McLean, Dimension Films
‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, 1956, Don Siegel, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
‘The Blair Witch Project’, 1999, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, Artisan Entertainment

Pub/2008

More like this:
'The Amazing Transparent Man', 1960, directed by Edger G. Ulmer
'The Fly', 1986, directed by David Cronenberg
'The Horror Of Frankenstein', 1970, directed by Jimmy Sangster