Star Movies' line up of movies this weekend, starts with the Friday Night Premiere of From Hell. This airs at 9 pm on 4 July.

The Victorian era film shows serial killer Jack the Ripper stalking the dark streets of 1888 London, slaying prostitutes and crudely dissecting their bodies. Based on the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, this moody chiller is directed by the Hughes brothers and stars Johnny Depp as Inspector Frederick Abberline. Heather Graham co-stars as the prostitute with a heart of gold who wins the muted affections of the Inspector.

On 5 July at the same time Schwarzenneger's Predator takes centrestage. He plays a military special forces operative sent on a covert mission to rescue another group which was sent in to assist some nefarious US government plan in a Latin American country. Once there, he encounters an old army buddy who has gotten too deep in the CIA's good graces for Dutch's comfort. When he and his team go into the jungle to rescue the others they encounter signs that the equally capable men they were sent to rescue were all killed unawares and in an unusually gruesome fashion. Given their training, it should have been impossible for anyone to best all of these commando warriors. Soon, the men from Dutch's own team get picked off one by one, as they grow aware that they are up against something uncanny, not of this world, something that is hunting them for sport.

On 6 July at 7 pm, Van Damme fans can feast their eyes on Hard Target John Woo's first Hollywood feature. Van Damme plays Chance Boudreaux, a down-and-out Cajun merchant seaman, who, after saving a young woman, Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler), from a gang of thugs on the streets of New Orleans, agrees to help her search for her father. They learn that her father has become a victim of wealthy sportsman Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen), who, along with his friends, hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.

Finally on 6 July at 9 pm, Oscar winner Jodie Foster stars in Contact. She plays astronomer Dr Ellie Arroway who undertakes an emotional and spiritual journey after receiving the message she's waited for all her life--a mysterious signal beamed in from alien beings, who pass along instructions for building and piloting a craft that will presumably survive the passage from Earth to their home. While struggling to fund her mission, Arroway also struggles with her feelings about the nature of things, particularly after meeting a charismatic New Age believer (Matthew McConaughey) who questions her disbelief in God.