"The Invisible Man" (1933) Film Review

The Invisible Man (1933)

Rating: 5/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    For decades, having the power to become invisible has always been a dream of children who read comic books about superheroes that have the power to vanish. There have always been examples of heroes who could become invisible to save the day from the villain, but what happens if the person that was invisible was the antagonist of the story? James Whale's second film in the Universal Monster franchise after Frankenstein, titled The Invisible Man, answers that question. Whale presents an amazingly chaotic film that is not only incredibly fun from beginning to end, but features a great story, fantastic visual effects for the time, and a wonderfully evil performance from the great Claude Rains. 

    Rains plays Dr. Jack Griffin, the iconic character whose face is wrapped in bandages so people will know where he is when in their presence. He was able to turn invisible after trial and error with many different chemicals and drugs, before he finally discovered the right ingredient. That ingredient is called monocaine, which has the side effect of turning anyone who takes it insane. Therefore, as the movie progresses, our titular character goes crazier and crazier. 

    He then goes on to force his former partner, Dr. Kemp (William Harrigan) to become his accomplice in his actions, wanting to kill as many people as he can and cause as much havoc and mayhem as possible. He tries this all while being pursued by the police, his former employer Dr. Cranley (Henry Travers), and the love of his life, Flora (Gloria Stuart).

    From beginning to end, this movie is easily one of the most fun of the Universal Monster movies. It is obvious Rains is having the time of his life playing this role, and it is reflective in his performance. There is something oddly satisfying and incredibly enjoyable about watching this doctor go mad when he turns invisible and is trying to wreak as much havoc as possible while being hunted by the police. Whale really knows how to tell these stories (I mean, look at Frankenstein and its fantastic sequel). He is perfectly able to capture the madness of the plot and of the character, and translates it so well onto the screen. 

    The movie never falters or loses the viewer's attention, keeping them glued to the screen and on the edge of their seats from the beginning to the very last end credit card. The movie moves so swiftly and is very tight and concise throughout the runtime, with Whale knowing what to show on the screen to keep the viewers engaged and capture the pure magic of the story. The character and the story, which is adapted from the novel by H.G. Wells, really allows Whale to lean into the more crazy side of humanity, which I'm very happy he did. 

    Like I mention earlier, Rains is having the time of his life with this role, and therefore he gives such a fantastic performance. From the way he manically laughs when he is stripping off his bandages in front of the police to the way he talks, he does an incredible job at playing someone so crazed and deranged. At the same time, it is so much fun watching him, and he really does a great job of easily being one of the best Monsters in this long-running franchise. He's iconic in this role, and it just goes on to show how great of an actor Rains truly was. The rest of the supporting cast around Rains does a great job with the script and the characters they are playing, but Rains really steals the show in every single scene he is in. 

    One of the most intriguing things about this film is the use of special effects, some that were incredibly ahead of their time. We have a movie from the early 30's that is able to turn a man completely invisible, with the use of black velvet and camera trickery. Even today, I'm blown away by what they were able to accomplish when making this film, and it's very inspiring. The same thing can be said with the sets for this film, which are also very well done and do a wonderful job of immersing the viewer into the movie. This isn't surprising as Universal created some absolutely beautiful sets for their early Monster films. 

    There is a reason this is considered one of the best (and sometimes the best) of the Universal Monster films, and everyone should watch this movie at least once in their life. From the terrific performance from Rains to the wonderfully crazy story and chaotic energy, this movie simply works on every level, and proves how great of a horror film they could tell almost one hundred years ago.