Basic Instinct 2

Sex sells, as the original Basic Instinct proved in 1992, grossing more than 350 million dollars worldwide.

Paul Verhoeven's glossy erotic thriller was exploitative and lurid - lead actress Sharon Stone claimed that the director tricked her into removing her knickers for the infamous interrogation scene.

With the exception of an Oscar-nominated turn in Martin Scorsese's Casino and a lovely supporting performance in The Mighty, Stone's career has lost its way since then.

Her personal life has also been touched with misfortune: She suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm and went through a high-profile divorce from her newspaper editor husband.

Inevitably, the 48-year-old actress attempts to propel her star back into the ascendancy by reprising her role as sexually voracious, best-selling crime novelist Catherine Tramell. Basic Instinct 2 follows the template of the original film, contriving an overblown murder mystery with lashings of kinky sex and nudity, plus a couple of hairpin twists.

Stone slinks through every frame, huskily trotting out the salty double entendres, shedding her figure-hugging apparel with alarming regularity.

The character and the performance may not have changed, and Stone still looks great flaunting her wares, but there's a distinct lack of eroticism in the sequel, which shifts the action from San Francisco to London, where Tramell finds herself under investigation for the murder of Premiership football star Kevin Franks (Collymore).

Scotland Yard detective Roy Washburn (Thewlis) invites brilliant psychiatrist Dr Andrew Glass (Morrissey) to evaluate the bisexual novelist. But the more time the medic spends with his sexy patient, the deeper he is drawn into her deadly game of deceit, desire and betrayal. Meanwhile, Glass has to fend off the unwanted intrusion of celebrity journalist Adam Towers (Dancy), who is currently dating the doctor's ex-wife, Denise (Varma).

Ignoring the advice of his mentor, Dr Milena Gardosh (Rampling), Glass succumbs to his primal urges, allowing Catherine to probe the darkest recesses of his sexual desire.

And probe she most certainly does.

So Basic Instinct 2 settles into a rhythm (so to speak), strutting from frenetic bonking to bloodshed. Stone and Morrissey share no palpable screen chemistry, while Charlotte Rampling is reduced to a thankless role on the periphery.

Thewlis's fantastically foul-mouthed cop is a fleeting delight, berating Dr Glass: "If you're not dizzy for five seconds with the smell of her, ask yourself: Do you trust her?"

Umm, no.