Released: 13 November 1933
Director: James Whale
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Budget: $328,033
Stars: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Henry Travers, and Una O’Connor

The Plot:
After turning invisible with a special formula, Doctor Jack Griffin (Rains) first obsesses over a cure and then goes on a crazed rampage through a Sussex village.

The Background:
By 1897, prolific British author Herbert George Wells had quickly made a name for himself as a creative visionary and futurist, with The Time Machine (1895) laying the foundation for the science-fiction genre and The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) inviting discourse regarding morals and ethics. Potentially inspired by W. S. Gilbert’s “The Perils of Invisibility” and allegedly starting as a short story Wells later expanded, The Invisible Man became a literary classic as a startling cautionary tale regarding the dangers of science. Development of a silver screen adaptation can be traced back to 1931 where, after their unexpected success with Dracula (Browning, 1931), Universal Studios suggested The Invisible Man as a follow-up. While producer Carl Laemmle and his son opted to prioritise Frankenstein (Whale, 1931) instead, they purchased the rights during filming (though Wells demanded script approval). Though James Whales was reluctant to direct out of fear of being typecast as a horror director, he eventually signed on and the script underwent many rewrites before shooting started. While Boris Karloff was initially set to star in the title role, stage actor Claude Rains took over for his feature film debut, where he shared the screen with some simple and innovative visual effects. Everything from simple wire tricks to layering negatives over each other sold the illusion of invisibility so well that they stood as a blueprint for modern-day green screen effects. Highly praised upon release and regarded as one of the best films of its era, The Invisible Man has stood the test of time for its ambitious visuals, stirring performances, and masterful exploration of the corruption of power. Followed by a handful of quasi-sequels and spin-offs, The Invisible Man has had an enduring legacy in sci-fi and horror, resulting in everything from under-rated sci-fi dramas, to big-budget remakes and reimaginings that were both underappreciated and evocative, to infamous comic book adaptations of his classic literary icon.

The Review:
I’m somewhat familiar with H. G. Wells’ classic sci-fi story of an invisible man terrorising a small English village, and have long been a fan of the concept and its adaptations and how they often depict an ambitious scientist meddling in things beyond him and turning to madness. The original invisible man (here given the first name “Jack”) is already a rude and demanding character when he first stumbles through the snow and into Iping looking for a room. His appearance startles the locals at the Lion’s Head since he’s covered in bandages. Despite his odd appearance and gruff nature, doting and bothersome landlady Jenny Hall (O’Connor) caters to his every whim. However, the nosey old shrew can’t help but bother Griffin, fussing over his room and catching a glimpse under his bandages, and spreading gossip to her husband, Herbert (Forrester Harvey), and the snooping locals, who believe he’s an escaped criminal. In reality, Griffin is an understudy of Doctor Cranley (Travers), who was allowed to conduct experiments in his spare time. To the suspicion of his colleague, Doctor Arthur Kemp (Harrigan), Griffin worked in secret against the open and honest code of most scientists. Indeed, Griffin’s beautiful fiancée and Dr. Cranley’s daughter, Flora (Stuart), notes that Griffin had become more withdrawn before his sudden disappearance and openly laments his departure, worrying herself sick about his health. Though Dr. Kemp uses Griffin’s actions to proposition her, he’s hilariously unsuccessful and his dislike of Griffin counters Flora’s romanticised opinion of him, strongly indicating that Griffin was previously an eccentric but nonetheless caring and compassionate man.

Eager for fame and glory, Griffin experimented with the obscure drug “monocaine”, which drains colour from its surroundings. By distilling the substance and regularly injecting it under his skin, Griffin successfully turned himself invisible but fled from his laboratory and home to discover the way back to visibility in seclusion. When he reaches Iping, Griffin is irritable and quick to anger, eventually launching into a tirade after Jenny reprimands him for messing up her sitting room with his bizarre equipment. Insulted and enraged, Jenny orders Herbert to evict their guest, who desperately pleads with the landlord before angrily tossing Herbert down the stairs. The barflies fetch pompous and ludicrous Constable Jaffers (E. E. Clive), only to be amazed when Griffin dramatically reveals he’s completely invisible! While they’re shocked and powerless to catch Griffin, who half-throttles Jaffers and causes havoc in town, the unmasking and the frustration at his condition briefly unhinges Griffin’s usually ordered (if unstable) mind. Griffin delights in chaos before fleeing to Dr. Kemp, who’s stunned when Griffin calmly explains his maniacal plot for a mutually beneficial partnership so that Griffin can terrorise the world with his powers. Though hesitant, Dr. Kemp’s too terrified to resist Griffin’s demands and gives him shelter, helping him retrieve his notebooks, all while Griffin giggles about the mayhem and murder he plans to indulge to showcase his intellectual superiority. While Griffin claims to be “strong” and easily outwits the police as they mobilise to flush out the invisible man causing so much death and panic, he’s still very vulnerable as he must stay naked and out of rain, soot, and snow to remain undetected.

Griffin’s madness comes in waves, with him switching between reasonable (if callous) and enraged. When docile, he sees Dr. Kemp as his valued and trusted partner but, when angered, Griffin gleefully murders even his reluctant ally when Dr. Kemp calls in first Dr. Cranley and Flora and then the police. Griffin’s demeanour noticeably softens around Flora, but his madness returns when he realises Dr. Kemp has betrayed him. Griffin renews his killing spree, all thoughts of returning to visibility forgotten as he tosses men over ravines, shoves over baby carriages, and casually derails a train, killing over a hundred passengers! Regardless, Flora remains devoted to her man and near sick with worry, though Dr. Cranley’s powerless to do much but promise to help try Griffin once he’s apprehended. When the sceptical Police Chief (Holmes Herbert) is strangled to death for his ignorance, the Chief Detective (Dudley Digges) takes the threat very seriously. Unfortunately for him, his office is swamped with calls from “helpful” civilians offering outlandish solutions and all plans must be spoken privately, necessitating his men walk a giant net across his office! When Griffin vows to murder Dr. Kemp in retaliation, the Chief Detective uses the terrified doctor as bait to lure Griffin into an elaborate trap. However, despite his crazed state, Griffin easily evades the traps and follows Dr. Kemp, casually explaining how he’s going to kill him and then executing the plan, sending Dr. Kemp to a spectacularly fiery death! The invisible man’s rampage continues over several montages, with many policemen and volunteers joining the search and just as many terrified civilians barricading their doors, though Griffin constantly makes fools of them.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The Invisible Man has an edge over many classic Universal Monsters movies with its orchestral score. It also impresses with its surprising and startling body count, especially as the titular antagonist is simply one man running around in the nude. Griffin’s mood swings seemingly grant him augmented strength and he thinks nothing of murdering for his own amusement. As explicitly stated by Dr. Kemp and then reiterated in the finale, The Invisible Man is another cautionary tale of the dangers of dabbling in science. Griffin meddled in things he didn’t understand and, in his arrogance, blundered into his experiment without conducting proper research, essentially dooming himself to madness, debauchery, and ultimately death. The Invisible Man is reasonably close to the source material, recreating many aspects while bolstering Dr. Kemp’s role and altering both the title character and making his unfortunate more dramatic. The book spends more time in Iping, as I recall, while these scenes merely introduce the mystery of the bandaged stranger. Naturally, the concept of a person turning invisible and consequently losing their mind to the freedom and power originates here, with Griffin first toiling for cure and then revelling in his abilities. The process makes him unhinged and gives him an inflated sense of superiority, eventually bringing him ruin. However, Griffin seems perfectly happy to be the all-powerful, untouchable invisible man…except for having to always be naked.

Of course, the most startling way The Invisible Man stands out from its peers is its groundbreaking visual effects. Obviously, everything seen here was achieved practically using unique and clever solutions and they hold up ridiculously well. While it’s clear when a dummy has been used, you can sometimes spot wires, and there’s an odd translucent effect at times, I remain impressed and amazed by the innovation on show. There are scenes where Griffin is simply a talking shirt or has half his jaw missing that blend better than some modern-day CGI and I especially when he took and lit one of Dr. Kmep’s cigarettes with a match. Of course, many of the effects are incredibly simple, being basically actors talking to thin air or pretending to be throttled, but many sequences showcasing the invisible man’s actions were setup to avoid making things too easy. Like, when he escapes through the window, it would’ve been simpler to just show the window opening but, instead, we see the net curtain opening, an ornament set aside, and then the window opens. Other effects are simply achieved through wires, which works incredibly well and the black and white, grainy filter helps hide many of the tricks used. A fun model train and car also go down in flames during Griffin’s rampage to add a sense of danger and scale things. While later iterations relied more and more on CGI, I appreciated the simplicity and hard work that went into rendering Rains invisible. His reveal is an incredibly powerful scene where he angrily tosses his fake nose, glasses, and bandages at the gawping locals and flails like a madman, a far cry from his composed and demanding demeanour and the first true indication that Griffin is gone completely off his nut.

While the Chief Detective works to apprehend the invisible man, apparently employing over 100,000 men in a widespread manhunt, he’s eluded at every turn. This is largely because Griffin easily slips past traps or patiently waits to act. While Flora renders him docile, Griffin embraces mayhem and death once the cops mobilise, never once trying to contact Flora. Initially, Griffin wants Dr. Kemp help him spread true chaos. Then, he plots to master the serum so he and Dr. Kemp can take turns indulging their destructive whims (though Dr. Kemp is aghast at this). Upon being discovered, however, Griffin simply runs amok until he burns himself out. Throughout the film, however, Griffin is seen to be exhausted and famished, constantly demanding food, rest, and a fire to warm his frozen, exposed flesh. Though he delights in killing Dr. Kemp, Griffin collapses, exhausted, in a farmer’s (Robert Brower) barn. Upon discovering the sleeping invisible man, the farmer raises the alarm, prompting the Chief Detective to capitalise on the latest snowstorm and flush Griffin out with fire. In desperation, Griffin flees into the snow, where his footprints clearly show, allowing the police to gun him down. Griffin finally reunites with Flora in the hospital where, despite the best efforts of those involved, he faces a quick and probably painful death from the bullets in his lungs. Despite this, there’s no blood and Griffin is coherent enough to make amends with Flora and realise the folly of his experiments. Griffin’s sanity is restored moments before he passes and he dramatically and ambitiously becomes visible, his wounds and death apparently flushing the serum and the madness from his system and leaving Flora distraught by his bedside.

The Summary:
Even now, The Invisible Man is my favourite of all the classic Universal Monsters movies. I think that’s because, from my perspective, the concept hasn’t been as worn out as other classic horror concepts, like Count Dracula or Frankenstein, and also because I find the film more visually impressive than many of its peers. Of course, it’s not perfect: Una O’Connor’s grating, shrieking, over-the-top performance is very obnoxious at the start and many of the later, one-note constables and supporting characters are strangely comical. There’s a fanciful nature to Griffin’s rampage, with many of his actions framed as pranks, but things nicely escalate as he first causes mischief and then amasses one of the greatest body counts of his era! While the film attempts to humanise Griffin through Flora and the descriptions of monocaine, he’s still a despicable and unstable character, being rude and demanding and then giving in to enraged outbursts when his experiments are constantly interrupted. We see little of Griffin’s more logical, compassionate side, instead seeing him flip-flop between being coldly ruthless and utterly off his rocker as he plots to cause chaos alongside Dr. Kemp. It’s a stirring, magnetic performance from Claude Rains, especially as he’s barely in the film and yet his presence is constantly felt. Of course, The Invisible Man really impresses with its ambitious and ground-breaking visual effects, pioneering practical filmic techniques that were further refined over time. I personally believe these sequences hold up extremely well, especially because of the black and white film stock, and have aged the most gracefully of all the Universal Monsters films of this era. The Invisible man also set the standard for the concept many would follow but few would as masterfully execute, and told a stirring cautionary tale about the dangers of science in a way that was at least somewhat scientifically plausible. Ultimately, while The Invisible Man is more shocking and at times amusing than scary like its peers, it’s an admirable product of its time that still makes an impression today and you’re truly missing out if you’ve slept on this classic piece of cinema.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Were you as impressed by The Invisible Man as I was? If you read the book, what did you think to the film’s execution of the concept? Did you like the attempts to humanise Griffin or do you prefer him as an unhinged maniac? What did you think to the visual effects used to render Claude Rains invisible and do you agree that they hold up today? Were you surprised by the large death toll? Which version of The Invisible Man, or Universal Monsters movie, is your favourite? How are you celebrating Halloween this year? Make your thoughts on The Invisible Man visible in the comments, go read my other horror reviews, and support me on Ko-Fi for more translucent horror content.