Cinema Shock

HOLLOW MAN (2000) | Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven

In this, the final episode of our Paul Verhoeven series, we’re taking a deep dive into the director’s final film made within the Hollywood system before retreating to his native Netherlands.
In discussions of HOLLOW MAN, most reviewers — and even Verhoeven himself — are dismissive of the film. But that unfairly discounts the incredible and innovative work that went into bringing its special effects alive. Despite what one might think of the film, its FX work deserves to be recognized.
In this episode we’ll discuss how the team of Sony Imageworks and Tippett Studios pulled it off, and we’ll get into Verhoeven’s own thoughts on the film. Then we pose the question: Is HOLLOW MAN deserving of its reputation as a failure, or did Verhoeven have more to say than most critics caught onto when it was released in 2000? How does the film play in the era of #MeToo?
All of this and more in the conclusion to our series Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven!
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Coming Up:
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Up Next: The Wachowskis: Walking the Path
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
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STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997) | Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven

After the massive failure of SHOWGIRLS, Paul Verhoeven decided that, for his next film, he'd return to the tried and true genre of science fiction.
In doing so, he retimed with ROBOCOP scribe Ed Neumeier for an adaptation of a decades old novel by legendary sci-fi author Robert Heinlein.
The resulting film, STARSHIP TROOPERS, is a departure from its source material in both plot and theme. Although it has since come to be regarded as one of Verhoeven's best films, at the time of its release, it was reviled by critics and ignored by audiences.
In this episode, we trace the film from its origins as a novel, through its subsequent adaptation and release, and its newfound cult status.
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Coming Up:
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
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SHOWGIRLS (1995) | Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven

After his third major success with BASIC INSTINCT, Paul Verhoeven had the Hollywood clout to do something truly audacious for his next film: He was going to direct a film that he wouldn’t have to cut down to get an R-rating, something he’d struggled with on all of his American productions so far.
The resulting film is the infamous SHOWGIRLS. Hailed as one of the worst films of all time when it was released in 1995, SHOWGIRLS has gone on to be re-evaluated. Over the last quarter century, it’s evolved from pariah to camp classic to, in recent years, being seen as a misunderstood film, one that’s much better than its reputation would indicate.
In this episode, we’ll explore the creation of the film itself, from an idea scribbled on a napkin by writer Joe Ezsterhas, through its production, release, and critical evaluation, all the way through its more recent resurgence.
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Coming Up:
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
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BASIC INSTINCT (1992) | Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven

With a couple of highly successful, big budget, sci-fi action movies under his belt, Paul Verhoeven was ready to move on to a smaller project, one that was more centered on character and dialogue than his previous American productions allowed.
The resulting film was BASIC INSTINCT, a Hitchcockian thriller that allowed the director to indulge in the explicit sexuality (and violence) of his earlier European films.
In this episode, we trace the film's creation, from its script by Joe Ezsterhas (which sold for a record breaking amount) to its filming and release and, of course, the considerable controversy that it generated.
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Coming Up:
SHOWGIRLS (1995)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
HOLLOW MAN (2000)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
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TOTAL RECALL (1990) | Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven

With the release of ROBOCOP, Paul Verhoeven had been catapulted onto the A-list. With that film’s success, it was inevitable that some of Hollywood’s biggest names would come calling. And in the late 1980s, there were arguably no bigger stars that Arnold Schwarzenegger.
After seeing ROBOCOP, Schwarzenegger personally tapped Verhoeven to be the director of his next project, the long-gestating Philip K. Dick adaptation TOTAL RECALL. But that film’s development didn’t begin there; the story of its creation began a decade and a half earlier, as project by the young screenwriter duo of Dan O’Bannon and Ron Shusett, who worked on the project alongside another screenplay, one that would later become Ridley Scott’s ALIEN.
In this episode, we’ll trace TOTAL RECALL’s creation, beginning in the mid-70s, all the way through its filming, release, legacy and the multiple attempts to bring a sequel to life.
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Coming Up:
TOTAL RECALL (1990)
BASIC INSTINCT (1992)
SHOWGIRLS (1995)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
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Bonus: Let's Talk About the ROBOCOP Sequels

For our very first Cinema Shock Roundtable, we’re gonna tie things into our current series on Paul Verhoeven by discussing the non-Verhoeven sequels to ROBOCOP.
These Roundtable discussions are designed to be less structured than our regular episodes where we can play around with our format a bit. Got an idea for a bonus episode? Hit us up at @cinema_shock on Twitter or Instagram!
For even further ROBOCOP discussion, check out this episode from our friends at The More You Nerd where they discuss the ill-fated 90s ROBOCOP TV series.
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Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
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ROBOCOP (1987) | Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven

After the box office failure of FLESH + BLOOD, Paul Verhoeven sought to fully immerse himself in American culture in a bid to fully understand how to make films for the American market, so he packed his bags, left his native country and moved to America.
Not long after arriving, he had an opportunity to direct a big budget American action movie for Orion Pictures. That film, ROBOCOP, would not only announce him as a major force to be reckoned with in American cinema, but it created a cultural milestone, whose presence is still felt today.
In this episode, we’ll discuss the creation of the film, from the inspiration behind the script by Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, through Verhoeven’s attachment, the film’s production, and its ongoing legacy.
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Coming Up:
TOTAL RECALL (1990)
BASIC INSTINCT (1992)
SHOWGIRLS (1995)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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FLESH + BLOOD (1985) | Sex + Violence: The Films of Paul Verhoeven

For our latest series, we'll be diving into the career of Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven.
Known for his subversive and satirical work, Verhoeven has courted controversy throughout his filmmaking career — dating back to the late 1960s — mostly due to his unflinching depictions of sexuality and graphic violence.
We're starting things out with a look at his first English language film, the 1985 American co-production FLESH + BLOOD, starring Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
For the first third of this episode, we're going to give you a bit of background on Verhoeven's life and career up until this point, including brief discussions of his hard-to-find (in the US, at least) Dutch films before diving into the creation of FLESH + BLOOD.
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Coming Up:
ROBOCOP (1987)
TOTAL RECALL (1990)
BASIC INSTINCT (1992)
STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986) | Tobe Hooper: The Cannon Years

In our final episode on Tobe Hooper, we're discussing what would end up being the last film of his to ever receive a wide theatrical release, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2.
At the end of his time with Cannon, the studio wanted to cash in on their three-picture deal with Hooper by having him give them a sequel to his 1974 breakout film. The final product wasn't what they — or audiences — expected from a sequel to that unrelentingly bleak film.
A brightly colored dark comedy, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 featured only one returning cast member from the original film. In this episode, we'll track the film from its inception to release, discussing its reception in 1986 and impact on Hooper's career, through its latter day reassessment as a cult classic and one of the most beloved films of Hooper's career.
Stay tuned for a big announcement at the end of the episode!
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Coming Up:
FLESH + BLOOD (1985)
ROBOCOP (1987)
TOTAL RECALL (1990)
BASIC INSTINCT (1992)
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
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INVADERS FROM MARS (1986) | Tobe Hooper: The Cannon Years

When Tobe Hooper signed on to work with Cannon Films, he signed a three-picture deal, with the agreement that the third film would be a sequel to his breakout film THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. So after the dismal failure — both critically and commercially — of LIFEFORCE, the studio continued to honor that deal, hoping to change the reputation of the studio from a b-movie house to the producer of legitimate blockbusters.
As we'll see in this series, it never quite worked out that way. Hooper's second film for Cannon was INVADERS FROM MARS, a remake of the 1953 film of the same name, and the reception was... not great.
In this episode, we'll explore the creation of the maligned film, including details on how the incredible creature design by Stan Winston was achieved!
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Coming Up:
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE PART 2 (1986)
UP NEXT: Sex + Violence: The Misunderstood Films of Paul Verhoeven
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.
Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net
Follow us:
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