The Invisible Man
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Movie Reviews of The Invisible Man
Movie Review: Classic Monster Movie Thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is 1 of of the 6 classic monsters i saw it 3 in a half years ago on AMC'S Monster fest 2000
not that bad of a movie i liked it then i kept seeing it pop up on AMC throughout the weeks to come .. its really hit the spot light of Special Effects and even a little bitta humor in the movie i like it and i think every1 should buy the private collection movie of this classic universal SHOCKER
Movie Review: An Universal movie monster that you must see!
Summary: 4 Stars
'Invisible Man, The' is one of the most sucessful Universal monster movies of the thirties, along with 'Frankstein' and 'Dracula'. A superior adaptation of a H.G. Welles novel, the movie has humour, suspense and a excelent development of the story that made this movie actual for all ages. Claude Rains (the actor that made 'Phantom of the Opera) gives life to Jack Griffin, a young scientist that discover a strange formula to turn himself invisible and goes crazy along the process. The movie has some great scenes,like the tricks that Griffin plays with the people of a little village and the persecutions of the police, always confused by the inteligent and unusual invisible enemy. Great special effects for the time makes the movies even more valuable and Rains gives a strong and convincible performance, although all the time 'invisible' for the public.
Movie Review: He may be invisible, but The Invisible Man is a must-see
Summary: 5 Stars
The Invisible Man is one of the most impressive Universal "monster" films of the 1930s, a motion picture masterpiece still as vibrant and engaging now as it was in 1933. It is also a representative of the rarest of movies - one which succeeds much better than the novel upon which it was based. Don't get me wrong - H.G. Wells was a brilliant writer, one of the two founding fathers of science fiction, but The Invisible Man left me as cold as the invisible man must have felt running around naked in the bitterly cold countryside. The invisible man is thoroughly unlikable in the novel, much more so than he is here. A running time of just 71 minutes and a brilliant tour de force of a film debut by Claude Raines make Jack Griffin a fascinating albeit quite mad character who never completely turns the viewer off with his misguided antics. Of course, the sword cuts both ways. In the novel, one gets a much deeper appreciation of the pain and struggle the man faces trying to restore himself to visibility. In the movie, the transition to raving megalomaniac occurs much more quickly, with several palliative dashes of humor thrown into the mix early on. There isn't that much to the story, really. A man wrapped in bandages and clothed in a long overcoat, glasses, and hat suddenly enters the Lion's Head pub and inn one snowy night demanding a room. He makes it very clear that he wants privacy and soon begins performing chemical experiments. The fellow is a scientist named Jack Griffin (Claude Rains), a young chap who, after five years of private work, discovered the secret of invisibility; unfortunately for him, he has yet to figure out an antidote, as becomes evident when he begins to shed his clothes and bandages - yep, the title was right, he really is the invisible man. Now most fellows, were they to become invisible, would probably run right out and try to see the girl next door in her birthday suit, but Griffin is different. That special ingredient in the potion tends to make a person just a little bit insane, and Griffin has already begun forming plans to get filthy rich and make the world grovel at his invisible feet. His surly attitude and just plain weirdness soon get him evicted, and soon his secret is out. He has a jolly good time playing pranks on local villagers, but his pranks soon turn to mass murder. The police dragnet is fun to watch (it isn't easy to catch an invisible man), but the movie takes a continually darker tone as the inevitable conclusion approaches. I am of the belief that the story of The Invisible Man really doesn't teach any sort of lesson with it, although others are certainly free to voice their own interpretations of the story. Griffin is just too disagreeable to teach me anything (apart from the ubiquitous "don't meddle in God's domain" thing).
The special effects in the film are actually quite amazing. Many of them are rather simple but well-done, and the central bits featuring clothes walking around on their own serve the story very well indeed. There is one scene featuring a pair of pants skipping down the road accompanied by Griffin singing the kind of ditty a madman might be prone to sing that is absolutely priceless. Alongside Dracula and Frankenstein, The Invisible Man completes the threesome of truly must-see 1930s Universal "monster" films, even though we all know it's really pure science fiction and not horror.
Movie Review: Claude Raines was spectacular!
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though we don't see him till the very last scene, Claude Raines gives probably his best performance. This was by far the best invisible man themed movie that I have seen. There are some really tense parts especially after Raines tells Kemp he is going to kill him. There is also some extremely amusing scenes (Raines going through the countryside with nothing but a basket and singing a children's song while scarring all the townfolk.
Movie Review: Grab this DVD Before It Disappears!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most curious things about this otherwise memorable DVD package is the fact that it offers little information on Gloria Stuart--and nothing at all in the way of a personal interview. Given that Stuart is the only cast member still alive, this seems a terrible oversight. It is only when one discovers that there was no love lost between Claude Rains and Gloria Stuart that the reasoning becomes apparent: in such documentaries as UNIVERSAL HORROR, Stuart has had many positive things to say about director James Whale, the cast in general, and the production as a whole--but she has never hidden her dislike for Rains, and claims that Whale often had to step in to prevent Rains from deliberately upstaging her during filming.Even though the absence of Gloria Stewart is conspicuous, like all classic horror DVDs released by Universal the bonus package for THE INVISIBLE MAN is a superior collection, with production photographs, production notes, and biographical notes. The audio commentary track by Rudy Behlmer is occasionally dry but often quite interesting, and the making-of documentary ("Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed") is exceptional, featuring interviews with the likes of Rains' daughter and the various technicians who worked to create the special effects.
The film, of course, is based on the H.G. Wells novel, and although it differs quite a bit from the original and lacks the novel's overall social-commentary bite, it was indeed approved by H.G. Wells himself. The here concerns a scientist (Rains) who has discovered a drug that will make him invisible--but fails to realize that the drug has sinister side effects: it also induces madness. And with delusions of taking over the world, he engages in everything from practical jokes to outright murder.
The great thing in this film are the special effects, which were truly amazing for the early 1930s and which still hold up extremely well today. But of equal importance is the weird twist of horror and humor with which director Whales endows the piece. And as in his later THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, this film would contain a number of coded messages: Whale was homosexual, and like most gay men of his era he felt that society valued him for his sensibilities but at the same time disenfranchised him as a person. In a very real sense, THE INVISIBLE MAN is the ideal Whale vehicle: it offers a portrait of someone locked outside of the system.
The cast is extremely good, with the aforementioned Claude Rains (making his American screen debut) and Gloria Stuart as the leads--and the ever-memorable Una O'Connor screaming, whooping, hollering, and generally running riot to tremendous comic effect. She would give her role in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN a similar spin, but she was never was so wildly, so enjoyably over the top as she is here. The rest of the cast is equally fine, and includes such memorable character actors as Henry Travers, Bill Hall, and Holmes Herbert as well.
While Whales would direct more commercially and critically successful films, and while THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is arguably his most personal statement, THE INVISIBLE MAN is tremendous fun for fans of classic horror. If you're one of them, grab this DVD before it disappears!
--GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--