So… I have a confession to make. For the longest time, I thought that the Invisible Man was a wimp compared to the other Universal Monsters. Sure, I’ve always admired his iconic shades and general sense of style, but how the hell do you pair up Lovecraftian fish-people, undead abominations and tragic lycanthropes with a regular guy who just so happens to be invisible? Well, after years of avoiding this seemingly inferior “monster”, I finally got around to reading H.G. Wells‘ classic story and watching James Whale‘s 1933 adaptation of it (not to mention the subsequent sequels), and boy was I wrong!
Having seen the error of my ways, I feel that I owe The Invisible Man an apology, so here’s my attempt at explaining why I now consider him the most underrated of all the Universal Monsters!
Despite a few notable alterations (mostly attempts at making the titular character less of an irredeemable fiend), Universal’s first adaptation of The Invisible Man is surprisingly faithful to the source material. Much of this is due to Wells’ mastery of storytelling, using universal archetypes to spin an iconic yarn of mad science gone wrong, while also having fun with the sci-fi concept of invisibility. That makes this haunting tale quite easy to adapt into nearly any environment or time period without losing much of its impact, as the story deals with timeless concepts like the dangers of anonymity and man’s relationship with power.
Whale’s film actually injects a little bit more comedy into the mix, though it also makes Griffin more of a tragic figure by including a heartbroken fiancé and the fact that the main character’s apparent madness mostly stems from the invisibility formula and not necessarily from an inherent lust for power. However, it was only with the addition of Claude Rains‘ unforgettable performance that the character was truly transformed into one of fiction’s most notorious psychopaths.
Following in the tradition of complex horror protagonists like Victor Frankenstein, Dr. Jack Griffin’s uncontrolled ambition is the true monster here, with his reprehensible behavior making him inhuman, not the lack of a visible body. Over the course of the story, Jack distances himself so deeply from the human condition that murder no longer phases him and anything can be excused if it serves his megalomaniacal goals. In fact, The Invisible Man technically has one of, if not the, largest body count in all of the Universal Monster pictures. This is mostly due to one terrifying scene where Jack derails a speeding train, possibly murdering hundreds of innocent travelers just because he could!
However, the character is so much more than just a crazed killer. While some of his quirks may have originally been played for laughs, it doesn’t take a genius to imagine his invisible antics serving as the terrifying foundation for a modern haunted house story. Ghostly mutterings in the night, objects moving by themselves and unseen presences stalking innocent victims; it’s the stuff of nightmares! To me, an ultimate reveal that the evil entity was a crazed human the entire time seems much more horrifying than a simple spirit.
Couple these phantasmagorical shenanigans with a sadistic streak and delusions of grandeur (even featuring classic supervillain speeches about making the world grovel at his feet), and you have the recipe for one of fiction’s most compelling characters. It would actually be a while before we’d see this kind of madness again in film, especially after the Hays code, but The Invisible Man would become a franchise willing to reinvent itself with each new installment. While the original flick was a cautionary tale of sci-fi horror with a sprinkling of slapstick, the sequels would incorporate genre-bending elements to the story in order to keep the formula from getting stale.
The Invisible Man Returns is much more of a murder mystery as Vincent Price tracks down his brother’s killer using his newfound abilities, while The Invisible Woman would present itself as a screwball comedy, abandoning most of the story’s horror elements. My personal favorite of the bunch, Invisible Agent, was an insane propaganda flick chronicling the adventures of a new Invisible Man tasked with spying on the Nazis during World War II in a proto-superhero movie! Of all of these, The Invisible Man’s Revenge is arguably the most similar to the original, again featuring a psychopathic killer, though he still pales in comparison to Rains’ original Jack Griffin.
Naturally, not all of these different interpretations were successful, but they can all serve as inspiration for even better adaptations in the future. The way I see it, the ideal Invisible Man film would incorporate elements from all these previous versions in a revamping of this classic monster, though I’d love it for a new creative team to dial the scare-factor up to eleven.
That’s why I can hardly wait for 2020 and Leigh Whannell‘s take on this iconic character. After seeing Upgrade, I’m pretty sure he’s one of only a few filmmakers able to tell a proper sci-fi horror story without skimping out on the brutality or clever nuances that made the original story such a classic in the first place.
At this point, I think it’s clear that The Invisible Man is one of the most versatile properties out there, able to effortlessly transition between genres while still maintaining an echo of the original story’s horrific elements. Even when the character is reimagined as a hero, there’s an inherently creepy voyeuristic element that can’t really be removed, not to mention the ever-present temptation to use these abilities for personal gain.
These days, The Invisible Man is right up there with The Wolfman as one of my all-time favorite movie monsters. It took a while for me to appreciate the value of this timeless character, but I’m glad that I did. If the age-old adage is true, and the deepest scares lie in the unknown, I feel that there’s no better story to revive through the lens of contemporary horror than the unseen terrors of the unforgettable Invisible Man.
