The best horror movies often mine real-world experiences, and Leigh Whannell’s fantastic reinvention of Universal’s classic, “The Invisible Man,” should come with a trigger warning for anyone who has ever endured and escaped an abusive relationship.
Seriously, I can’t recall the last time I felt such anxiety sitting in a darkened theater.
What’s even more impressive is that for its first hour, very little happens in the way of horrific events, but you can’t relax because with “The Invisible Man,” it’s what you suspect is right there that you can’t see that truly makes your skin crawl.
“The Invisible Man” opens with Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) slipping out of bed in the dead of night, desperate not to wake her husband, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), whom she has drugged.
The Invisible Man
4 out of 5 stars
Rated: R
Run Time: 124 minutes
Directed by Leigh Whannell
Starring Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Michael Dorman
Opens Friday, February 28Each step that she takes, tiptoeing through their cavernous, cliffside mansion overlooking the Pacific ocean reverberates with dread. When she accidentally kicks a dog bowl, you gasp.
It’s ridiculously tense, and masterfully executed.
Cecilia does escape with the help of her sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer), but even after seeking refuge with a friend, James Lanier (Aldis Hodge), and his daughter Sydney (Storm Reid), she can’t exhale or trust that Adrian won’t magically appear to drag her back to her personal hell.
As an actor, Moss is that rare breed of chameleon that can play instantly relatable characters, and with Cecilia, she fully immerses herself in the role of an emotionally battered spouse. It’s a remarkable performance that anchors “The Invisible Man” with timely echoes of the #MeToo movement, but also serves to give voice to the scores of women who have yet to muster the courage to break free by validating the very real danger they face.
In one painfully poignant scene, Cecilia explains how Adrian slowly controlled every facet of her life, starting with her diet and daily routine until he systematically wormed his way into her thought process so that she no longer recognized herself at all.
Since 2004, Whannell has carved a deep footprint in horror, creating both the “Saw” and “Insidious” franchises, but of the two films he’s directed, only 2018’s “Upgrade” showed true promise. That should change now, as it’s clear that Whannell is showing significant improvement between projects.
The skill with which he uses his camera to linger a few extra beats on the negative space in any given room only reinforces the underlying fear that viewers can’t trust their own eyes. You know something is there, but you just can’t see what it is.
Whannell takes very little from H.G. Wells’ source material other than the name of Wells’ main character, Griffin. Instead of making Griffin a scientist, Whannell modernizes his villain, turning him into a brilliant developer who specializes in optical advancements, such as security and surveillance equipment.
He doesn’t bother to explain how Adrian has mastered invisibility, and once the secret is revealed, deep in the third act, it makes perfect sense.
What helps is that Cecilia never doubts what is happening, and as she falls deeper into despair, as everyone around her treats her as if she’s crazy, it only heightens the inherent horror of her situation. Viewers know she isn’t crying wolf, but the fact that no one believes her serves as yet another reminder of how often victims are dismissed and their concerns ignored.
“The Invisible Man” is best enjoyed as a nerve-shredding, master’s class exercise in ratcheting and maintaining tension. There are several plot points that, if pondered for too long, might detract from your overall enjoyment, but those are minor quibbles and represent small pieces that aren’t integral to the overall narrative.
But once the spook show theatrics kick off in earnest, “The Invisible Man” becomes a runaway beast of impressive practical effects and computer-generated mayhem with some truly unexpected jolts.
Whether it’s Cecilia being battered and flung around a kitchen by an invisible force, or a cadre of mental health staff being brutally dispatched while she watches in abject terror, “The Invisible Man” charges forward with purpose, building to a deliciously timed and perfectly executed denouement.
Universal has tried for years to launch its own, interconnected Dark Universe, a la Marvel Studios, and create a shared landscape where the studio’s classic monsters could find fresh life. That goal looked to be obliterated following the dismal showing of 2014’s “Dracula Untold” and 2017 “The Mummy,” but now there’s genuine cause for hope renewed.
If the studio can use “The Invisible Man” as a template, and approach new stories featuring The Wolfman, Frankenstein, The Creature and more with the same precision, there’s nothing to stop the beloved beasts of our childhood from once more invading our nightmares and scaring the collective hell out of us all.
John W. Allman has spent more than 25 years as a professional journalist and writer, but he’s loved movies his entire life. Good movies, awful movies, movies that are so gloriously bad you can’t help but champion them. Since 2009, he has cultivated a review column and now a website dedicated to the genre films that often get overlooked and interviews with cult cinema favorites like George A. Romero, Bruce Campbell and Dee Wallace. Contact him at Blood Violence and Babes.com, on Facebook @BloodViolenceBabes or on Twitter @BVB_reviews.
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2020.