The Invisible Man (1933)

The Invisible Man: All right, you fools. You've brought it on yourselves! Everything would have come right if you'd only left me alone. You've driven me near madness with your peering through the keyholes and gaping through the curtains, and now you'll suffer for it! You're crazy to know who I am, aren't you? All right! I'll show you!
[the Invisible Man removes his rubber nose and goggles and throws them at his spectators]
The Invisible Man: There's a souvenior for you, and one for you. I'll show you who I am - and WHAT I am!
[the Invisible Man, laughing maniacally, removes his bandages and fake hair]
Const. Jaffers: Look! He's all eaten away!
The Invisible Man: Eh? How do you like that, ay?

Director:  James Whale
Producer:  Carl Laemmle Jr.
Main Cast:  Claude Rains, Gloria Stewart, William Harrigan, Henry Travers, Una O’Connor
Runtime:  72 minutes

I will say up front, that I am not really a horror fan, but many of these older “horror” films are just a thriller these days without the usual rubbish that comes along with that genre especially in more modern years.

There have several more recent attempts at making an invisible man movie with the 1992 “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” (Chevy Chase and Darryl Hannah) and the 2000 “Hollow Man” (Elizabeth Shue and Kevin Bacon) instantly coming to mind however that old familiar saying comes back “they don’t make them like they used too”.  To be fair the 1992 Memoirs of an Invisible Man movie was a more comical take and didn’t really take itself too seriously and was really enjoyable because of that.  The 2000 Hollow Man was more of an effects movie without the meat (no pun intended) so it seemed more like a pointless movie that had a lot of potential.  So perhaps going back to where it started would be an interesting move.  The film in discussion here came out in 1933 and again blew away the minds of audiences with its fantastic special effects and test of imagination (he could be anywhere…even here in the room!).  Just like the 1933 King Kong, I either dismissed it or never really noticed it existed but having now seen it, I can see how it has stood the test of time. 

Without giving much of the movie away, Dr. Jack Griffin (wonderfully played by Claude Rains), heavily clothed and bandaged, goes into an old Inn during a snow storm to seek refuge and solitude to work on a solution to his invisible state.  The drugs he took to make him invisible also affects his mind which causes him to start on bit of a rampage in Britain.  In its day it was classed as a horror film but most of that would simply be due to how mysterious and creepy it would be to have someone who is invisible around,  It is also what they call a “pre-code” movie and therefore didn’t comply with what should and should not be allowed in a movie (this Hayes Code was introduced in 1930 at the start of the sound era but became enforced in July 1934 and essentially tried to force movie makers to adhere to a type of “code of conduct” when it came to movies.  The Hays code ended in 1968.).  That’s where the horror part comes in which is unlike more modern horror themes which seem to take things too far, but that’s another story.  These days we would just call this movie a thriller, probably mild at that.

Contrary to the images above we do see him with the bandages off or more accurately the invisible person and/or its effects, and to be honest for a movie of this vintage the effects are very convincing.  No green screen or CGI here (obviously), just the old fashion techniques and they come off wonderfully.  As Claude is invisible, be that under wraps or in a more literal sense, we don’t “see” him act, but the acting he does is with his voice where you can sense his expressions and feelings in his tone and he really does the job perfectly.  Apparently they wanted to get Boris Karloff (who played the Mummy from 1932 and Frankenstein in the original 1931 film) but after much dispute Claude ended up playing the role and to be honest he suits it to a T. 

The Bluray disc reviewed forms part of a boxset called “Universal Monsters: The Essential Collection” which has a number of horror movie firsts, being Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Wolf Man (1941), Phantom of the Opera (1943) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), the last movie of which comes in both 2D and 3D editions for this boxset and Dracula has both the English and Spanish versions of the film.  All movies have naturally been fully restored and each movie has its own set of extras.  Personally I am not a fan of some of the horror movies at all such as Wolfman and Dracula and personally would not reccomend them at all from a Christian point of view.  Invisible Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon are really quite good, especially Invisible Man and is the main reason I purchased this boxset which ended up being cheaper than buying those two movies by themselves (Black Lagoon only comes in 3D for this boxset too).

The Bluray for The Invisible Man is impressive in its quality with any issues more likely being related to the source material as opposed to the disc or transfer itself.  It retains a good level of contrast and is sharp considering the age and of the film.  As with many of the older movies on Bluray, I would say that this is the best you’re going get when watching these movies particularly if they have had the restoration treatment.  The extras include a commentary and documentary. 

Overall I highly recommend watching the movie if you like the invisible man thriller movies.  Its engaging and keeps you in and also has a spot of fun in it as well.

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