Dai
Death Scythe
The Invisible Man (1933)
"An invisible man can rule the world. No one will see him come. No one will see him go."
James Whale's adaptation of the HG Wells novel has all the hallmarks that would come to define the titular character: madness, obsession, voyeurism, cruelty, and a touch of dark humour. Buried under bandages for much of the movie, Claude Rains gives a magnetic performance with only his voice and body language as a scientist who turns himself invisible, unaware that the serum also causes insanity. In the early part of the film he rides the line back and forth between sympathetic and abhorrent. Even later on there are dark touches of playfulness mixed in with his more vicious acts.
A whole range of techniques are used to portray the invisibility scenes, all the more impressive for being such early examples of some of these effects. The only place where the movie falters is in a rather underwhelming final confrontation.
Hollow Man (2000)
"It's amazing what you can do when you don't have to look at your face in the mirror anymore."
Setting aside the thought-provoking satire that Paul Verhoeven injected into his earlier SF movies, this has more in common with his sleazier contemporary 90s movies like Basic Instinct. Like that one, this is primarily a slasher movie/thriller, albeit one told mostly from the villain's perspective. In so doing, the movie practically revels in the power fantasy as Kevin Bacon's egomanic scientist descends through a series of increasingly depraved crimes. I guess it's for the viewer to decide if Verhoeven is testing them to see at what point they detach from playing along with the villain, or if this is just a simple exploitation movie. It doesn't help that most of the other characters range from unsympathetic to downright unpleasant, so it's hard to root for anyone.
Regardless, this remains a visually inventive movie with effects that have aged well. Special mention goes to the scene where someone blows smoke in the invisible man's face, giving us literal smoky Bacon. Viewed in the context of Verhoeven's other SF movies though, it's not in the same league as Robocop, Starship Troopers or Total Recall.
The Invisible Man (2021)
"He controlled me long before he controlled you."
If Hollow Man was a lurid attempt to explore the basest fantasy of invisibility, this is the thematic antithesis. Eschewing the villain's perspective altogether, this movie instead focuses on a woman who survived his abuses. Elisabeth Moss plays the former lover of an obsessively controlling scientist. After she escapes his prison-like home, she has mixed feelings upon hearing that he has since died. That is until she starts to feel that he is still around, watching her, and continuing his attempts to control her life. There's no voyeuristic fantasy here; it's all tension and paranoia, and all the stronger for it.
This movie has much in common with the original Candyman, in that the villain isn't simply a killer; his manipulations and violence are a twisted attempt at seduction, trying to isolate and drag her down to his level. Combined with the raw anguish of Moss's performance it makes for a suspense-filled movie that is easily the best invisible man story I've watched.
"An invisible man can rule the world. No one will see him come. No one will see him go."
James Whale's adaptation of the HG Wells novel has all the hallmarks that would come to define the titular character: madness, obsession, voyeurism, cruelty, and a touch of dark humour. Buried under bandages for much of the movie, Claude Rains gives a magnetic performance with only his voice and body language as a scientist who turns himself invisible, unaware that the serum also causes insanity. In the early part of the film he rides the line back and forth between sympathetic and abhorrent. Even later on there are dark touches of playfulness mixed in with his more vicious acts.
A whole range of techniques are used to portray the invisibility scenes, all the more impressive for being such early examples of some of these effects. The only place where the movie falters is in a rather underwhelming final confrontation.
Hollow Man (2000)
"It's amazing what you can do when you don't have to look at your face in the mirror anymore."
Setting aside the thought-provoking satire that Paul Verhoeven injected into his earlier SF movies, this has more in common with his sleazier contemporary 90s movies like Basic Instinct. Like that one, this is primarily a slasher movie/thriller, albeit one told mostly from the villain's perspective. In so doing, the movie practically revels in the power fantasy as Kevin Bacon's egomanic scientist descends through a series of increasingly depraved crimes. I guess it's for the viewer to decide if Verhoeven is testing them to see at what point they detach from playing along with the villain, or if this is just a simple exploitation movie. It doesn't help that most of the other characters range from unsympathetic to downright unpleasant, so it's hard to root for anyone.
Regardless, this remains a visually inventive movie with effects that have aged well. Special mention goes to the scene where someone blows smoke in the invisible man's face, giving us literal smoky Bacon. Viewed in the context of Verhoeven's other SF movies though, it's not in the same league as Robocop, Starship Troopers or Total Recall.
The Invisible Man (2021)
"He controlled me long before he controlled you."
If Hollow Man was a lurid attempt to explore the basest fantasy of invisibility, this is the thematic antithesis. Eschewing the villain's perspective altogether, this movie instead focuses on a woman who survived his abuses. Elisabeth Moss plays the former lover of an obsessively controlling scientist. After she escapes his prison-like home, she has mixed feelings upon hearing that he has since died. That is until she starts to feel that he is still around, watching her, and continuing his attempts to control her life. There's no voyeuristic fantasy here; it's all tension and paranoia, and all the stronger for it.
This movie has much in common with the original Candyman, in that the villain isn't simply a killer; his manipulations and violence are a twisted attempt at seduction, trying to isolate and drag her down to his level. Combined with the raw anguish of Moss's performance it makes for a suspense-filled movie that is easily the best invisible man story I've watched.
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