The old science-fiction classic by H. G. Wells has gotten a make-over for the 21st Century. Mark Harrington has this week’s Friday Film Review.
This week’s film is “The Invisible Man”, written and directed by Australian Leigh Whannell. Whannell is best known as one of the creators of the “Saw” horror films, which clearly gives him the qualifying resume to take on yet another adaptation of the 1897 H.G. Wells novel of the same title. The first film adaptation the novel, made in 1933 and featuring the debut of Claude Rains, was a box office success and technological marvel for its time but more recent adaptations have been mediocre at best. The original film started a trend which most filmmakers deemed a nominal and natural deviation where the serum which caused the invisibility also causes the scientist to go mad. This change allows the scientist to have more conflicted torments and relationships that translated better to big screen horror scenes and plot development. Consequently, subsequent films are focused on the scientist’s descent into madness and how special effects are better utilized to heighten horror. However, in the novel, the scientist is amoral before development of the invisibility serum and his maniacal lust for murder and power is horrifically amplified by the technological breakthrough. In this new version, Whannell honors that original premise but turns the plot on its head. The plot in this film focuses on a singular victim subject to the terror of a maniac and asks the question- what if you were the only person who could see the invisible man and everyone who loves you thinks you are mad? Elisabeth Moss stars as Cecelia Kass, who thinks she’s just escaped from an abusive relationship. But then she starts hearing footsteps. Is she crazy or is he back? At first, with all the advancements in special effects, it was a little disappointing that the film didn’t subject the audience to more suspense and invisible tricks- such were the most entertaining part of “The Hollow Man”, made in 2000 with Kevon Bacon and Elizabeth Shue, which was otherwise pretty forgettable. But the invisibility isn’t a vehicle for terrorizing another audience seeking cheap thrills in another horror genre retread. Invisibility purely amplifies the control and torment unleashed upon Cecelia Kass by her abuser. And the results are horrific. The film is aided by great supporting roles led by Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid and Harriet Dyer as supporting friends and family of Cecelia forced to reconcile their loved one’s seemingly descent into madness.
So, on my ski trail rating system, “The Invisible Man” earns my highest BLACK DIAMOND ski trail rating. The ingredients for invisibility this round are one part Julia Roberts’ “Sleeping with the Enemy”, and one part Harrison Ford’s “The Fugitive”. The pulse of this film is racing from the opening scene and never lets up. While logic also goes invisible from the story on occasion, these deficiencies are cloaked by clever plot twists which produce a constant flow of tension and surprise. Elisabeth Moss’ performance which transitions the depths of paranoia, flirts with normalcy, and endures incapacitating terror propels this film to another level. The end result may not be particularly scary nor the type of horror H.G. Wells intended to warn humanity about, but it is terrifying.
“The Invisible Man” is rated R for language, strong graphic violence, and very sharp cutlery.
This is Mark Harrington for KPCW’s Friday Film Review.
