The Invisible Man (1933/2020)
THE INVISIBLE MAN (PG)
D: James Whale
Universal (Carl Laemmle, Jr.)
US 🇺🇸 1933
70 mins
Horror
W: R.C. Sheriff [based on the novel by H.G. Wells]
DP: Arthur Edeson
Ed: Ted Kent
Mus: Heinz Roemheld
Claude Rains (Dr. Jack Griffin), Gloria Stuart (Flora Crawley), William Harrigan (Dr. Arthur Kemp), Henry Travers (Dr. Cranley), Una O’Connor (Jenny Hall), Forrester Harvey (Herbert Hall)
Loosely based on H.G. Wells’ novel, Claude Rains headlines as the suspicious Dr. Jack Griffin, who takes shelter at an inn in a remote village, dressed head to toe in bandages when he enters the building and is shown to his lodgings, insisting that he is not disturbed whilst he works on his experiments.  However, it doesn’t take long for the villagers to discover he is invisible & he subsequently goes on a murderous rampage.
James Whale’s 1933 horror classic not only broke new ground for visual effects & trick photography, but Claude Rains also deserves enormous credit for imposing himself on the screen with a character the audience is incapable of seeing.
Obviously, certain aspects of the production will feel quite dated, but considering this is a film from 1933, it’s also quite easy to sit back and marvel at how well it was conceived considering its vintage.
8/10
THE INVISIBLE MAN (15)
D: Leigh Whannell
Universal/Blumhouse/Goalpost/Nervous Tick (Jason Blum & Kylie du Fresne)
US/Australia 2020
124 mins
Thriller/Horror
W: Leigh Whannell [based on the novel by H.G. Wells]
DP: Stefan Duscio
Ed: Andy Canny
Mus: Benjamin Wallfisch
Elisabeth Moss (Cecilia Kass), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Adrian Griffin), Aldis Hodge (James Lanier), Storm Reid (Sydney Lanier), Harriet Dyer (Emily Kass)
Loosely based on H.G. Wells' novel and originally intended to be part of Universal's "Dark Universe" series of films (put on permanent hiatus due to the commercial failure of 2017's The Mummy), Leigh Whannell's adaptation of The Invisible Man brings a new angle to a timeless, chilling horror story.
Elisabeth Moss plays Cecilia, a victim of domestic abuse who flees from her psychotic boyfriend in the middle of the night.  A short while later, she discovers that he had commit suicide and she is the main beneficiary of his fortune, gained through scientific breakthroughs, and soon becomes haunted by strange happenings, convinced that he isn't really dead and is still stalking her.
The film certainly owes a debt of inspiration to the 1950's French classic Les Diaboliques, but doesn't come anywhere close to plagiarism. I could also argue that 2018 thriller Unsane may also have inspired this new take on old material.
Elisabeth Moss is excellent in the lead, a victim of a toxic relationship driven even further into paranoia, and Whannell does an excellent job cranking up the tension throughout.
Unfortunately, the film does have an ending which I found rather unconvincing, but it's quite forgivable considering the build-up is incredibly well done.
7/10
