One of those mad professors beloved of old horror movies re-creates his virtual reality personification as an android, SID 6.7 (Russell Crowe), who proceeds to a self-glorifying orgy of killing.

Cue hero Denzel Washington, a cop jailed for slaughtering bystanders in his revenge killing of the evil hostage terrorist whose DNA now forms part of the computer chip that makes SID's time-bomb tick.

Deemed the only man who can stop the carnage, Washington is implanted with a tracker device that can (unknown to him) be set to kill him - and let loose.

Cue heroine Kelly Lynch as the criminal psychologist who designates herself as Washington's partner.

The ensuing virtual reality-enhanced mayhem makes for an exciting thriller, even if the makers hardly play fair in helping the viewer keep up with the plot.

Very snappily directed by Brett Leonard, who made The Lawnmower Man, the film is an expensive-looking ride to Hell and back.