BASIC INSTINCT 2 — * — Sharon Stone, David Morrissey, David Thewlis; R (sex, vulgarity, profanity, nudity, drugs, violence, brief gore).

Much has been made about the fact that a scene was cut from "Basic Instinct 2" so the film could get an R rating rather than an NC-17, which producers equate with box-office death.

But the film is so laughably awful that you have to wonder if the studio started those rumors just to get people talking about it. Was anyone really eagerly anticipating a sequel to the 1992 original?

"Basic Instinct 2" is basically the same movie as its predecessor. Only there's no Michael Douglas. And the setting has changed from the United States to Europe.

Sharon Stone reprises her role as Catherine Tramell, a serial killer who also moonlights as a best-selling mystery novelist. Her latest boyfriend, a soccer star (Stan Collymore), has turned up dead. So once again she becomes a murder suspect.

This time the investigating officers bring in a forensic psychiatrist, Michael Glass (David Morrissey), to evaluate her mental state. But despite his testimony about her "risk addiction," she's set free.

Catherine next turns up in Michael's waiting room, claiming to want his services as a therapist, and, of course, the hapless shrink falls prey to Catherine's seductive charms. And the bodies begin piling up.

Filmmaker Michael Caton-Jones (2002's "City by the Sea") does his best to replicate the music-video stylings of Paul Verhoeven, who directed the original. Unfortunately, he's working with a screenplay, credited to husband-and-wife writing team Henry Bean and Leora Barish, that's full of howlingly bad dialogue.

Not that his stars are any help. Stone is too icy, and Morrissey looks and sounds like a poor man's Liam Neeson. And what are Charlotte Rampling and David Thewlis doing slumming in this sleazy nonsense?

"Basic Instinct 2" is rated R for graphic scenes of simulated sex and other sexual contact, crude, often graphic sexual talk (innuendo and slang), occasional use of strong sexual profanity, male and female nudity, drug content (references and use of hypodermic needles), some violent content (vehicular violence, a shooting and violence against women), and some brief gore. Running time: 113 minutes.

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com