_The Invisible Man_ filmed by James Whale two years after Frankenstein was way ahead of it's time, I was really blown away by the special affects who easily still hold up even over 80 years later!
The Story follows the young and intelligent Dr. Griffins (played by Claude Rains in his American Film Debut), so to say the 'Monster' of this film, who discovered the secret of invisibility and tested it on himself. The Problem is that he don't know how to reverse the power, so he abalienate himself to an faraway tavern, his face swathed in bandages and his eyes obscured by dark goggles, to exeperiment. His appearence naturally arrest attention and slowly the byeffect of his self-attempt become clear: he gets evil and superior, killing more and more people and sees him eventually getting chased by the police and villagers...
To be honest I watch a lot of older movies and they mostly haven't aged very well or can't be viewed by 'casual' movie watchers today, like others movie classics of that era (for example "_The Mummy_" or even "_Dracula_") but this easily holds up and is a lot of fun even today. Like I said the special effects really stand out and are really impressive. Besides that is the atmosphere, camera, excessive characters, slapstick, story and even action very well done, definitely one of the best movies of 1933.

After watching the very praised Frankenstein, this The Invisible Man, also from the director James Whale was recommended to me. Only with two years apart from each other I have to say that despite Frankenstein being a mark in the History of Horror Cinema this film is also one that needs to be acclaimed. The Invisible Man is in my opinion, a much more polished film.

I wasn't blown away as I thought I would be when I saw Frankenstein but in this one excedeed all of my expectations. James Whale was able to create a much more dark atmosphere and the mystery is constantly in the air.

This is the story of a scientist that was able to turn himself into an invisible man. The idea that no one sees him and he can do whatever he want is driving him to madness and he wants to rule the world.

It's very creative with excellent special effects, very well done! I was blown away by the quality of the effects since this was made in 1933! You are watching the film and you keep asking yourself: "How did they done it?" It's absolutely incredible!

This film is the perfect blend of horror, sci-fi, mystery and also a little bit of comedy in the middle. Definitely a must see!

We all know that necessity is the mother of invention, but there is another saying in Spanish that roughly translates to ‘sloth/laziness is the mother of all vices’ (the closest English equivalent I can think of is ‘idle hands are the devil’s playground’). I would say that the link between invention and laziness is largely computer-generated; that’s why a near-100 year-old movie such as The Invisible Man looks better than any modern CGI extravaganza, and it does so because it’s all there – even when it isn’t.

Jorge Luis Borges once wrote about all the trouble that H.G. Wells’s Invisible Man has to go to (wigs, dark glasses, fake noses and beards, etc.) so that people can’t see that they can’t see him. Director James Whale went to similar great lengths to make sure we can see that there is someone we can’t see, and the sheer mechanical ingenuity devoted to making the titular character a tangible physical presence reminds me of the biblical admonition that “ye shall know them by their fruits”; Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) certainly puts the phrase ‘conspicuous by his absence’ in an entirely different perspective.

The flawlessness of the whole enterprise is made even more impressive when we consider that it was achieved with wires that had to be kept out of the shot because the technology to digitally delete them obviously didn’t exist yet. Other optical effects, involving the Invisible Man himself as opposed to his interactions with other people and objects, are less convincing, and at the same time aren’t – that is to say, any less convincing than today’s green screens, motion capture, and other assorted VFX.

The other major factor that sells the film is Rains’s performance. He evidently can’t emote (we only see his face until the very last shot, and even then in the stillness of death), but he more than makes up for that, first with body language – a category wherein I feel compelled to include the sight of Griffin’s (as Borges might say) autonomous pants skipping down a country road –, and later with his disembodied voice, which he contorts to fully convey the extent of the character’s madness.

Old Horror movies aren't scary and have bad special effects. And they're Black and White, so nobody wants to watch them anyway.

Idiots! "The Invisible Man" is an atmospheric, funny, but dark film about a man turned insane monster. The first time I watched this I was shocked at the level of violent acts committed by Jack Griffin (the Invisible Man, played by Claude Rains). During the course of the story, he murders what amounts to hundreds of people. I also expected to feel some sympathy for him (a la Frankenstein's Monster). But I didn't. Griffin's science was flawed and his impatience not only turned him invisible, it also drove him to madness. There is nothing redeeming about Griffin and Director James Whale makes no real attempt to soften the character.

Whale's effort here sits in the middle of a timeline between his 1931 classic "Frankenstein" and 1935's masterpiece "Bride of Frankenstein". It's interesting to note the similarities in the savage behavior of the monster in "Frankenstein" and that of The Invisible Man's Griffin. Both go on rampages, but Frankenstien's Monster is a victim of the somewhat noble but miscalculated efforts of the Doctor. The Monster is a killer, but not by his choosing. Griffin however, is the creator of his own violent behavior. He originally attempts to make himself visible again, but the concoction that made him vanish also is making him mad. At some point, his mental switch is flipped, which eliminates his efforts to better himself and others. He's now a power hungry madman and decends further until he becomes a cold-blooded murderer. Griffin is actually a much greater danger than Frankenstein's Monster ever was.

It seems like Whale knows this story is depressing and heavy. He tries to lighten things up with side characters like Herbert and Jenny Hall (played by the grating Una O'Connor) but this film sets it's mood so well so early that it stays appropriately hopeless. And that's not a bad thing at all. In fact, it moves at a faster pace than "Frankenstein" and is a better film. Two years later, Whale made "Bride of Frankenstein" which rasied the bar to the point where it must be considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time.

"The Invisible Man" may be old and Black and White, but it has some really amazing special effects for its time. Anyone should be able to enjoy the effects for what they are, very creative solutions that simulate the movements of an invisible man. Chairs rock, windows and doors open, objects float effortlessly through the air. These effects wouldn't be much better if they were created today. There were also some very impressive scenes, my favorite of which was the original introduction of Griffin, who struggles through a winter storm seeking shelter at the Hall's pub.

The conclusion of the film came in a hurry as is usually case with older movies. It wrapped things up fast and did so in predictible fashion. I can think of a couple of other endings I would have preferred but ultimately I'm not complaining about the way it closed.

I think it's fair to say that James Whale was one of the true geniuses of early film making and that his three movie run of "Frankenstein", "The Invisible Man" and "Bride of Frankenstein" ranks right up there with other famous director hot streaks.

It alters you, changes you.

There's a snow storm blowing ferociously, a man trundles towards a signpost that reads Iping. He enters a hostelry called The Lions Head, the patrons of the bar fall silent for the man is bound in bandages. He tells, not asks, the landlady; "I want a room with a fire". This man is Dr. Jack Griffin, soon to wreak havoc and be known as The Invisible Man.

One of the leading lights of the Universal Monster collection of films that terrified and enthralled audiences back in the day. Directed by genre master James Whale, The Invisible Man is a slick fusion of dark humour, berserker science and genuine evil. Quite a feat for a film released in 1933, even more so when one samples the effects used in the piece. Effects that are still today holding up so well they put to shame some of the toy like expensive tricks used by the modern wave of film makers. John P. Fulton take a bow sir.

After Boris Karloff had turned down the chance to play the good doctor gone crazy, on account of the role calling for voice work throughout the film except a snippet at the finale, Whale turned to Claude Rains. Small in stature but silky in voice, Rains clearly sensed an opportunity to launch himself into Hollywood. It may well be, with Whale's expert guidance of course, that he owes his whole career to that 30 second appearance of his face at the end of the film? As was his want, Whale filled out the support cast with odd ball eccentrics acted adroitly by the British & Irish thespians. Una O'Connor, Forrester Harvey, Edward E. Clive and Henry Travers are memorable. While American Gloria Stuart as the power insane Griffin's love interest is radiant with what little she has to do. Based on the now famous story written by H.G. Wells, Whale and R. C. Sheriff's (writer) version remains the definitive Invisible Man adaptation. There's some changes such as the time it is set, and Griffin is not the lunatic he is in the film, which is something that Wells was not too pleased about in spite of liking the film as a whole, but it's still tight to the source.

Sequels, TV series and other modern day adaptations would follow it, but none are as shrewd or as chilling as Whale's daddy is. 9/10