The Invisible Man (2020)

“He said that wherever I went, he would find me, walk right up to me, and I wouldn't be able to see him.”

Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4

The Invisible Man is the Blumhouse-Universal co-produced remake of 'The Invisible Man.' After several embarrassing attempts at doing something with the original Universal Monster movies that peaked with the attempt at 'The Mummy' in 2017, Universal has now leased their property to a production company who actually specializes in making really good low-budget horror films, like 'Truth or Dare.' Basic premise: Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) escapes the custody of her overprotective boyfriend, which results in his suicide. However, Cecilia believes he is not dead, but rather ruining her life by pulling wacky practical jokes on her.

In horror, the most frightening, most terrifying thing is what you don't see; the ability to fill in the gaps with your imagination is what truly makes something haunting and impactful. Which is why H.G. Wells' novel 'The Invisible Man' is such a prolific stroke of brilliance. However, that is merely a concept. Similar to how 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' has such a brilliant concept, that concept must then be executed well. Just because it solely exists, that sole concept alone does not give merit to an instantly great film. 'The Invisible Man' from 1933 does have its issues, but one can easily pick out that film's aspiration and can see that it executed what it set out to do: prove that man can go mad with power, while also executing a more tongue-in-cheek tone.

The positives of 'The Invisible Man' (2020) are very strong ones. I'm glad to see that Leigh Whannell's style is very pronounced in this film. He occasionally uses the camera stunts used in 'Upgrade' where the camera is physically attached to the actor to create the effect that the frame is locked to their movement. His choice of camera movement also creates this deep sense of terrifying curiosity where the camera pans with something that is not physically on-screen. It leant to some very gripping scenes of tension, which this film exceeds at stupendously.

While Dr. Griffin was the main character in the 1933 film, the love interest character is the one we follow in the remake (a character so horrendously underdeveloped in the 1933 film). Elizabeth Moss does a splendid job at selling this character who everyone around her is very unsure of and it leads to her deterioration throughout the film. She really leads the film with her constant internal conflict that is played externally.

Now, the issues are also very much in the forefront as I found the film to be very banal as a whole.

The film first presents itself as a psychological horror film and it leads to one of my greatest fears, which is being admitted into an insane asylum knowing full well that you are absolutely not crazy.

A film that did a similar beat was Steven Soderbergh's 'Unsane.' Now, the disappointing part of 'Unsane' is that it also presents itself as psychologically twisting and the question is whether or not this female lead character is really envisioning all of this or not. And in both 'Unsane' and 'The Invisible Man', the psychological/internal conflict are abandoned for something for obvious and external. And the circumstances that allow the Invisible Man to become invisible are quite laughable.

The last twenty minutes of the film also felt like a very corny soap opera where, in order to keep the attention of the audience, twist after twist is presented. It felt very contradictory and it leaves you with no real satisfaction to everything that was set up over the span of a long two hours.

When you look at the premise alone of 'The Invisible Man', there seems like this brilliant potential that I feel has not been used to its fullest.

The film alone is solid, but very straight-forward. Even the small giallo twist to this film cannot add anything to, what I thought, was a fairly decent horror/thriller with terrific atmosphere and sound editing.

Rating: See It

-Nolan