All eyes on this riveting, little-seen slice of sci-fi, with Last Emperor John Lone turning himself into an Neanderthal iceman, discovered - looking like your fridge's congealed lump of frozen fish fingers - in the Arctic ice by a team of oil drillers and restored to life.

If Lone gives an understandably chilly performance, young Timothy Hutton provides the movie's warmth and soul as a scientist who wants to know what makes the Iceman tick, though his colleagues are just involved on the cold science level.

Hard to know what went wrong at the box-office: maybe it's just a bit too offbeat, serious-minded and intelligent for popcorn-mad audiences in American malls.

As with all quality sci-fi, the story persuades you it could just happen.