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October Horror 2016 - The Invisible Man 1933 — Description

“An invisible man can rule the world. Nobody will see him come, nobody will see him go. He can hear every secret. He can rob, and rape, and kill!”

As we near the end of October Horror’s Classics Week, I thought it would be best to shift the gears away from the purely artistic and dramatic, to something more technical in its speciality. Though initially I wished to talk about the 1941 “Wolf Man”, the film was just too far ahead for my liking, and so I decided to instead stick with the 1933 film, “The Invisible Man”, directed by James Whale, the same man who also worked on Frankenstein. Now the film isn’t as dramatic as our previous entries, and the horror is concentrated in the latter half while the first is played out for laughs. In fact, you could almost consider the film to be closer to something of an early B-movie science fiction than you would a classic horror film. However, what sets this film apart from the others is both the brutality of our villain, and the special effects involved in its creation. Unlike what we’ve seen so far, “The Invisible Man” uses photo trickery for its effects instead of make-up, allowing it to pass off the illusion of invisibility. It’s the highlight of the film, and it goes to show how much the medium began to evolve and change as time passed.

While I previously felt that “The Mummy” was my favorite of the Universal monster films, I honestly feel that it has been overtaken by “The Invisible Man”. It’s drastically different than classics I’ve seen so far, and so I feel that it truly sets itself apart from its predecessors. It’s a shame though that the story and character is so underutilized. Ignoring the couple of sequels that came soon after, the idea of the Invisible Man has come about in very few instances from big-budget comic book adaptations such as “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and some unfortunate modern retellings like “Hollow Man” (which I promise to cover in due time). This H.G. Wells classic should be explored more, and I’m certain that, at the current level of technology available in movie-making, that it wouldn’t require so much to make it now. Even if the film is done entirely in CGI, I think there’s still something to be had from another Invisible Man story. Perhaps in the near future such a film will be made, especially with rumors of Universal bringing back the monsters for their attempt at a shared universe tied with “Dracula: Untold”. I’m not sure how that would go, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited by the chance at revisiting these classics again. Though, I should be more cautious when it comes to these things.
But enough about future remakes, we’re here for “The Invisible Man”. So here are my thoughts on the film.

In a small far off English village, a strange man makes his visit of an inn, catching the attention of every man and woman nearby. He is fitted from head to toe in heavy clothing, bandages, and other attire, all of it hiding every single inch of his body from prying eyes. Wanting to be left alone, he gathers the suspicion of the village, quickly prompting them learn what exactly this man hides. It is soon found out that this stranger is a Dr. Jack Griffin, an ambitious scientist who has successfully created a serum that grants the user complete invisibility. However they caught him as he attempted to create a cure to his affliction, ruining all progress he had made in reversing it all. With the effects of the serum quickly driving the man insane, he makes plans of creating chaos with the newfound gifts he’s brought to himself. With the world unable to see him, Jack Griffin embarks on a rampage of cruelty, thievery, death and destruction. With this crazed menace now on the loose across the country, the people must find a way to stop him… or else bow to their new invisible ruler.

The first half of the film is played off for laughs, as well as some bits of the latter half. It has a lot of the tropes we’re familiar with: bumbling cops; screaming old ladies; pratfalls; invisibility shenanigans; and some other ridiculousness. A lot of the action done in the village is done for humor, as the Invisible Man abuses his power just to drive the people insane. The actors clearly are having a lot of fun with these scenes, and because of that they really get across a lot of the hilarity involved. The cops are a constant source of laughter, from the bumbling English cop who first meets the Invisible Man, to the officer who believes it all to be a hoax, and a couple of badly performed officers whose ill-delivery makes their scenes even funnier. That’s not even mentioning the actions both done by them and done onto them (like the scene where they net a room just to check for the Invisible Man). The last thing I’ve got to mention is the inn-keeper’s wife played by Una O’Connor, who constantly screams in a lot of the scenes she’s in. They’re annoying at first, but in a short amount of time her screaming actually starts to make you laugh with just how exaggerated they are. The humor if this movie is effective, both in its small and larger parts, which is why the actual horror elements are just as effective on their own whenever they're showcased.

The horror mainly comes from just how merciless the Invisible Man is in his actions. While it's all due to the insanity brought onto him by the invisibility serum, and that does grant sympathy for how low he's fallen, it in no way lessens just how ruthless he becomes. His invisibility allows him to hide with the very people he plans to kill, which creates a lot of tension as characters verbally question whether or not they are with him in the very same room. He is perfectly fine with leaving hundreds to die, and he very much succeeds in doing so, easily topping the kill counts of all previously covered classic horror monsters combined. In one scene he openly declares all the horrid deeds he'd commit thanks to his invisibility, which makes the horror not only the actions he does, but also what he's very much capable of. These scenes where he's being so evil is both horrific and also badass, with one particular scene being a revenge kill that leads to one very awesome speech. While the film does well in the humor, it still does just as well when it comes to its horror.
The actors do their job very well, with the Invisible Man stealing the show. With his acts being split between faceless exaggerated movements and voice-overs, Claude Rains does a fantastic job with what he's limited to, and throughout it all he makes you enjoy ever hit of it. The other actors are great, though they vary between being wholly dramatic or humorous. There are moments when the humorous actors can do a serious scene, but rarely does it go the other way around. Aside from the instances of some poor delivery, there little fault with the cast.

The special effects are, at least for the times, very effective. It genuinely feels at times that the Invisible Man isn't there, but for the most part you can clearly see where the cutoffs of the actor is. Though the effects are certainly far off from what we have, they have a cheesy enough quality that makes it interesting and as well hilarious. Every scene where the Invisible Man is showcasing his ability is entertaining, and thankfully they are fairly paced apart so as not to get boring.
The story is also nicely paced, with a good mix of action and talking scenes to keep you interested. Though the film is split between horror and humor, there is some credible drama as the Invisible Man shows some genuine concern for his beloved, and the way the two act almost makes you wish that he becomes sane again. Its enough to make the ending quite tragic, with an effect that shows the sequence of reversing the invisibility to be both surprising and saddening.
There's very little fault I can find with the the film, except for maybe the overly dramatic speeches that are representative of the times. They range from being silly to actually feeling dramatic, though that depends on how you'll personally feel for them.

The Invisible Man, at the time of writing, is my most favorite of the classics movie monster films. It's got a great blend of horror, humor, and tragedy with some neat special effects mixed into an awesome final product. Please go check it out, you won't be disappointed.

One more day of classics week, but we're going far out with the next entry.