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The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man (1933)

November. 03,1933
|
7.6
|
NR
| Horror Science Fiction

Working in Dr. Cranley's laboratory, scientist Jack Griffin was always given the latitude to conduct some of his own experiments. His sudden departure, however, has Cranley's daughter Flora worried about him. Griffin has taken a room at the nearby Lion's Head Inn, hoping to reverse an experiment he conducted on himself that made him invisible. But the experimental drug has also warped his mind, making him aggressive and dangerous. He's prepared to do whatever it takes to restore his appearance.

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merelyaninnuendo
1933/11/03

The Invisible ManLet's face it, this kind of a project is always tricky to make even for a Dark Universal Studios since they represent these weird and out of the box concepts because it is the closest one to the realistic world. And yes, there are flaws in the movie and some loopholes too but as all these films contains, it has a heart and genuine reasons in it. The Invisible Man seems petty and childish on screen and maybe it is because it isn't executed to that level or either its just poor writing because even being of only around 70 minutes, it seems long enough to allow the audience wander off the movie. James Whale who did a tremendous job in Frankenstein seems distracted here from the goal as it focuses more on the "entertainment" clause leading into sometimes exhaustion or even unreasonable sequences. But despite all these negativity, there is a great performance hidden in there and also amusing characters and content even though far stretched; it is there.

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Woodyanders
1933/11/04

Scientist Dr. Jack Griffin (an excellent performance by Claude Rains) tries to reverse an experiment that has caused him to become invisible. Unfortunately, the drug Griffin used for said experiment has also made him dangerously unstable.Director James Whale, working from a clever script by R.C. Sheriff, offers a flavorsome evocation of the rural village setting and its colorful inhabitants, keeps the absorbing story moving along at a brisk pace, ably crafts a strong gloomy atmosphere, stages the exciting climax with skill and aplomb, and tops everything off with inspired moments of dark humor. Rains, who acts primarily with his rich and commanding voice alone, does a remarkable job of making Griffin an alternately pitiable and frightening tragic character. Moreover, there are sturdy supporting contributions from Gloria Stuart as Griffin's concerned fiancé Flora Cranley, William Harrigan as Griffin's reluctant partner Dr. Arthur Kemp, Henry Travers as the equally worried Dr. Cranley, Forrester Harvey as the meek Herbert Hall, Holmes Herbert as the huffy Chief of Police, and E.E. Clive as the bumbling Constable Jaffers. Una O'Connor provides hilarious comic relief as feisty innkeeper Jenny Hall. The ingenious special effects still hold up quite well. Kudos are also in order for Arthur Edeson's crisp cinematography and Heinz Roemheld's robust'n'rousing score. Worthy of its classic status.

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Aram Isaac
1933/11/05

I'm a big fan of H. G. Wells' books, and when I saw that they made a film based on The Invisible Man I got excited. The Invisible Man is an amazing book, and I wanted to see if the movie was as good as the book. It wasn't, but it still is a great film.First of all: the special effects (and especially the invisibility) is mind-blowing. Griffin actually ís invisible, and no matter how good you look, you don't see some lines of an actual body. Nowadays it ain't special anymore, but this is 1933! When I finished the movie, I checked how they did it and it turned out that they used the technique that's now with a green screen. But in 1933 that method wasn't common. Points for that at least!The acting is different per character. The acting of Claude Rains (Griffin/Invisible Man) is quite good. In modern terms it is average, so that is quite good in 1933. However, the acting of Una O'Connor (Jenny Hall) is typical 1930-style: bad over-overacting. In this movie that's quite funny actually. Gloria Stuart (Flora Cranley) acts just bad, but whatever. The rest of the cast acts not quite bad, but also not great.At last the story. James Whale changed some things for the movie, which can be understood. Wells' books are quite hard to film, because a lot of his books contain talking about the science behind the subject, in this case invisibility. Also Whale made Griffin a little bit more human; in the book Griffin has barely any emotions. In this movie Griffin is a lot more dangerous, but his romance makes him more human to the audience. I like that feature. Furthermore, the story is not too slow and not too fast, Whale found a great balance between drama and action. I think this movie is a lot more fun if you've read the book. But even if you haven't read the book, just admire the amazing looking special effects and enjoy the terrifying deeds of The Invisible Man. If you think all the movies from before 1940 are too slow for you, this movie proves you wrong. I give this movie 8,5/10. A must-see.

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SnoopyStyle
1933/11/06

On a stormy night, a mysterious bandaged stranger comes in to an inn in Iping, Sussex. He takes a room and does experiments behind closed doors. The innkeeper tries to throw him out but he's attacked by an invisible force. The police come but he takes off his bandage and disappears. He is Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) who accidentally discovered invisibility. His fiancée Flora Cranley (Gloria Stuart) and his employer Dr. Cranley (Henry Travers) who is also Flora's father are both concerned. Griffin coerces his assistant Dr. Kemp (William Harrigan) in joining his mad plan to dominate the town.The special effects are breath-taking especially considering the era it's made. They are almost seamless when the invisible man takes off his bandages. On the only hand, the story is only functional. It's not that scary as a horror. The town folks are too broadly low-brow. The cops are too stupid. Some of it reminds me of Keystone Cops which is a bad thing when the movie is trying to heighten the tension. This should be a lot scarier.

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