Hollow Man is a 2000 science fiction horror film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Andrew W. Marlowe from a story he co-wrote with Gary Scott Thompson. The film stars Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Bacon, Josh Brolin, Kim Dickens, Greg Grunberg, Joey Slotnick, Mary Randle, and William Devane. It follows Sebastian Caine, a scientist who volunteers to test an experimental serum that renders him invisible. When the process cannot be reversed, he becomes increasingly unstable and violent. Produced as a large-scale studio project with an emphasis on visual effects, the film was shot in 1999 on a budget of approximately $95 million, most of which was allocated to effects work by Sony Pictures Imageworks and Tippett Studio. Filming took place in California and the Washington, D.C. area, combining practical effects with digital compositing to depict invisibility, including motion-control photography and computer-generated imagery. Released in the United States on August 4, 2000, Hollow Man debuted at number one at the box office and went on to gross about $190 million worldwide. The film received generally negative reviews from critics. However, its visual effects were well-received and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 73rd Academy Awards. A direct-to-video sequel, Hollow Man 2, starring Christian Slater and Peter Facinelli, was released in 2006.
Plot Brilliant but narcissistic scientist Sebastian Caine develops a serum for the military that renders a subject invisible. His team includes ex-girlfriend Linda McKay, Matt Kensington, Sarah Kennedy, Janice Walton, Carter Abbey, and Frank Chase. Sebastian finally devises a means to reverse the process, which they successfully test on an invisible gorilla. Sebastian also continues to pursue Linda romantically, unaware that she is now involved with Matt. Rather than report his success, Sebastian lies to an oversight committee, including his mentor Howard Kramer, claiming he needs more time. Intending to make history as the first invisible man, he persuades Linda and Matt to proceed with unauthorized human testing while keeping the others uninformed. The procedure succeeds, and Sebastian becomes completely invisible. He is initially overjoyed at the success and begins using his condition to spy on and prank his colleagues, but eventually progresses to sexually assaulting a sleeping Sarah. The team grows concerned about his behavior. When the reversal procedure fails and nearly kills him, Sebastian is quarantined in the lab, and the team creates a latex mask for him to wear. Sebastian becomes frustrated both by his situation and the constant testing he must undergo, leaving the facility and returning to his apartment. There, he resumes spying on an attractive neighbor. Realizing that no one could prove he was there, Sebastian sneaks into his neighbor's apartment and rapes her, before returning to the lab. Linda warns that if he leaves again, she and Matt will report the truth to the committee. Ignoring this, Sebastian rigs a device to loop a recording of his heat signature in his quarters, allowing him to leave undetected. He spies on Linda and Matt and becomes enraged upon seeing their relationship. Growing increasingly unstable, Sebastian later kills a dog used in the lab. The team discovers the looped recording and realizes Sebastian has been leaving the facility. Linda and Matt confess the unauthorized experiment to Kramer. After they leave, Sebastian, who has followed them, drowns Kramer in his pool. The next day, Linda learns of Kramer's death just before Sebastian traps the team inside the lab by disabling the phones and elevator codes. He murders Janice, forcing the others into hiding while Matt and Carter search for him using tranquilizer guns and thermal goggles. Linda attempts to rationalize with Sebastian, who refuses to surrender the freedom and power his invisibility gives him. The team deduces that Sebastian intends to kill them all to conceal the fact that he has been made invisible. He kills Carter, Sarah, and Frank, wounds Matt, and locks him and Linda in a freezer. Linda uses a defibrillator to create an electromagnet and force the freezer door open, then constructs a flamethrower. Meanwhile, Sebastian rigs an improvised bomb using lab equipment. As Sebastian attempts to escape via the elevator, Linda attacks him with the flamethrower, severely burning him. He survives and continues the attack. During the ensuing struggle, Matt strikes Sebastian with a crowbar. Though he recovers, Sebastian is thrown into a circuit box and electrocuted, incapacitating and rendering him partially visible. Linda and Matt locate the bomb but cannot stop it. They climb the elevator shaft to escape just before the bomb explodes. Sebastian returns and pulls Linda onto the elevator roof before attacking her. He asks for a final kiss; during it, Linda disconnects the elevator cables, sending Sebastian falling to his death in the flames rapidly rising in the shaft. Linda and Matt escape the burning facility and are taken away by emergency responders.
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