The Invisible Man - Hated It - DOUBLEFEATUREPREACHERS

The Invisible Man - Hated It

7/12/2017

Stars: Claude Rains and Gloria Stuart Director: James Whale
Runtime: 1 hour, 11 minutes
Categories: Horror, Sci-Fi
Based on the novel by H. G. Wells

There are so many things I did not like about this movie, but then again there are some things that I did like. First of all, it’s a science fiction film, which I love. The fact that he’s a chemist and has figured out a way to make himself invisible is very intriguing. Claude Rains is Dr. Griffin, the main character who has made himself invisible to everyone. The film starts off with him taking up a room at the local inn, where he tries to find a way to reverse the invisibility. All of a sudden, he turns evil. This is what I don’t like about the film. He goes off laughing like a mad scientist and turns evil. He wants to take over the world now. What happened? Or was I just being naive in the beginning and assumed he was good at first?

Another thing that bothered me was the innkeeper. Oh my goodness, she was the most annoying spectacle I have ever seen in a movie, and that is saying something. The way she screamed... is that really how she screamed or was it just bad acting on her part? I wanted it to be over the moment she started, but of course the scene was prolonged and she never quit.

I will say, that for such an old movie I was impressed with the effects. The man took off and put on his clothes all the time and watching them float there was cool. And it was interesting hearing in the dialogue him explain all the ways that he could be spotted, even without clothes on.

To keep things going for a very short movie that felt like forever, Griffin goes on a rampage to kill people and cause chaos around town.I mean, what else would this story be about if it’s considered a horror film? I for one think an invisible man would make for a great comedy, or even just a thriller with him on the clock to reverse the invisibility, or about a man trying to fit in and not scare people due to what he has become. So many different options, but nope, HG Wells decided that he should be evil.

SPOILERS
After killing hundreds of people, in the end they kill Griffin and it’s seen that death is the cure for the invisibility.
END SPOILERS

After all that, there are a ton of explosions to keep the viewer occupied and interested, but it wasn’t enough for me. I had a hard time staying awake. It would have been cool to see this film start out earlier in the man’s history, like watching him change himself or watching his experience as he turned invisible. All in all, I’m going to give this movie a “Hated It” rating and I’m not looking forward to the next one. How can there even be a sequel to this? I guess I’ll find out.