A short but sweet review on this from me, Ever since I first saw this film 15 years ago I have had SUCH a soft spot for ‘The Invisible Man’ it’s almost certainly one of if not THE best classic Universal monster movie made during this gold run of pictures…and the funny part is, it’s not even *technically* an out and out horror film…Its really more of a science fiction ‘gone wrong’ comedy with some mild horror elements about a scientist (played PERFECTLY by Claude Rains) who accidentally Intakes an abundence of ‘Monocaine’ in an attempt to become invisible, succeeds, but fails to realise that ingesting a large amount of Monocaine comes with the side effect of turning you into an aggressive raving mad man. Cue a village full of plumby eccentric british people trying to take down an invisible crazy person while having their hats thrown in lakes, or their shop windows smashed.

And from start to finish, this things just an utter delight to sit through, it balances the comedy with some genuinely unpleasent and over the top moments for the time, the special effects work, for 1933, is frankly incredible. the tone of humour is PERFECT for this kind of picture, ranging from some genuine quippy moments to full blown slapstick. The scripts unafraid to bounce around the genres, but it glides in and out of each with such swiftness and elegance that I honestly barely notice the tonal shifts until they’re right on top of me.

The act structuring is pretty rock solid to, with near perfect transitions that blend seamlessly into one another with ease. I think this *probably* could have been a more solid picture at 60-65 minutes…But I suppose its gotta be 70 to be commercially viable…so thats the way it goes.

The characters are a little basic, but develop complexity across the runtime as our other characters slowly begin to lose the plot, the ending is about as well handled as it could possibly have been handled, though it does feel a little rushed and overly simplistic in my opinion…Almost like the writer got bored and just decided to ham an ending together with whatever he could muster to get the last 2-5 pages out.

Direction is razor, delightful for the time, less styalized than ‘Dracula’ or ‘Frankenstein’ but still utterly watchable, theres some decent lighting work present here and the cast direction is frankly flawless for what this things trying to do.

The cines amazing giving some frankly jaw dropping effects/model work for the time and delivering a tight production that sags slightly in the middle, but certainly never becomes dull.

Claude Rains performance as the mad scientist Griffin is a tragic, manic and aggressive turn that almost certainly inspired a whole shed load of tragic insane scientists (Omega from ‘Doctor Who’ almost immediately springs to mind) the supporting cast range from downright daffy, to just in it for the paycheque. But again, non of them are ever truely dull.

Throw in a pretty solid score and…I honestly dont have much more to say. ‘The Invisible Man’ is a smorgesbord of experimentation and almost effortless attention to detail. Its amazing this thing was made in 1933 frankly, and if you havent seen it yet, you absolutely should!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-invisible-man/