The Invisible Man (1933)

“The drugs I took seemed to light up my brain. Suddenly I realized the power I held, the power to rule, to make the world grovel at my feet.”

Another literary classic turned into a movie by Universal as they kept the pace of these films going. This one is another solid entry in their catalog.

We follow our main character, Dr. Jack Griffin, throughout the film, although we also spend significant time with other characters – especially his love interest, Flora Cranley (Gloria Stuart), her father, Dr. Cranley (Henry Travers), and Dr. Arthur Kemp (William Harrigan). Other characters are highlighted at times as well, such as the reporters, the police, and some of the unfortunate locals caught up in the situation, but Griffin and his former associates and love interest dominate the movie’s screen time.

As the film proceeds, we see that Griffin grows more drunk with power and madness. It starts off subtly, with just hints of his mental state, but it grows over time to be more obvious, and his deeds become darker and more destructive. He goes from teasing and taunting to outright murder, even derailing a train and killing several people because of his descent into madness caused by the effect of the drug he took to become invisible, a condition that isn’t cured until the film comes to a dramatic and sorrowful conclusion. That final scene feels both atypical and emblematic of these older horror films, ending with the film wanting to impart a particular lesson to the audience.

"You really do go too far with your costumes, dear."

But it’s not just us watching as Griffin kills and destroys. We also see the softer moments with him and Flora. Her mere presence calms him down enough that he becomes instantly more rational when she’s nearby. Their relationship is obviously an anchor in his mind, as while he can be extremely dangerous, even for former colleagues (although especially because of being his former colleague in one case), he never does so with her. We also see how the police constantly fail in their attempts to deal with him. The film does get quite comedic at times, usually involving Griffin being wholly or partially invisible while he engages in various antics with confused people, and when he evades the often-hapless police.

Griffin can only be truly invisible when he removes all his attire. This is something that causes his eventual downfall, but until things come to close, he feels in control of the situation, even when he’s fleeing the authorities that are keen on his apprehension. He’s obviously toying with his enemies and many unfortunate bystanders in his increasingly erratic and dangerous romp through the film.

Normally 'I lost my head' is just an expression!

One thing I think that the film deserves immense praise for is how good the special effects are for 1933. The scenes where Griffin reveals his invisibility to shocked onlookers via unwrapping his bandages or taking off articles of clothing look excellent. The famous ‘nursery rhyme pants’ scene by itself is an excellent demonstration of the quality work put into those effects. It’s quite an achievement considering that the film was made 91 years ago! I especially love how they made Griffin’s footprints appear in the snow; it sounds like it took a lot of work for something so simple, but also so very well done.

"Here we go gathering nuts in May!"
This is an actual line from this scene, by the way!

I was debating on what final rating to give this one. It does get a bit silly at times, and while I enjoy silliness, one of my favorite IPs of all time is Plants vs. Zombies after all, I don’t find it always works in horror. That being said, I feel it does make more sense here than some others, as one thing I think even the saintliest of people would do if they were invisible would be to pull some pranks, and with Griffin growing more and more malevolent, it fits even better as some of his antics are downright deadly. The effects and main cast are brilliant, the settings are great, and it has a nice flow to it. It’s not as rapid-fire as more modern movies can be, but it also doesn’t move at a languid pace either.

In the end I had to give it the maximum rating. It doesn’t resonate with me as well as the better Frankenstein or Dracula movies, but it’s an enjoyable and often brilliantly made film that I can easily recommend, especially for spooky season.

Four disembodied pairs of pants out of four.

-Claude Rains performs in three Universal horror movies and is great in them all. He had a long and distinguished career in film and served in the British military in WW1. During that service, he was involved in a gas attack that damaged his sight and vocal cords. His voice is so very distinctive, and he always sounds so good that I’m not sure what he sounded like before the damage.

-Gloria Stuart was in another classic horror film, The Old Dark House, along with Boris Karloff and Ernest Thesiger, who themselves star in other classic horror films as well. She lived to be 100 years old, passing in 2010.

-Henry Travers, who plays Flora’s father, Dr. Cranley is best known for being Clarence, the guardian angel in It’s a Wonderful Life. He had many other roles as well.

-Una O’Connor has a typical role that she’s known for here. She’s in several Universal horror films and is mostly known for looking terrified at what’s going on and screaming a lot. I believe she’s supposed to be comic relief, but I honestly find her rather annoying.

-Dwight Frye returns to Universal horror films as a reporter this time, instead of his usual roles as lab assistant or madman.

Morella is a Gen Xer who likes strange things a bit too much.

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