The Invisible Man (2020) 124mins
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Now, this is how you update a story for the modern world. Originally a novel by H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man became a tent pole film in Universal's Classic Monsters range and, alongside Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man, launched a series of films throughout the 1930s and 40s based on the character and its concepts. After an abysmal failure in trying to relaunch the Monsters franchise as a connected universe à la the MCU with the release of The Mummy in 2017, Universal abandoned the approach and decided to put individual stories first and foremost. For this, we can all be supremely thankful.
Eschewing the traditional take on the Invisible Man as a bandaged lunatic, here we are presented with an altogether different, yet equally horrific, monster. Adrian Griffin is a controlling and abusive partner, who appears by all accounts to commit suicide when his girlfriend Cecila manages to escape his torment. However it soon becomes apparent that all is not as it seems...
Re-imagining this classic franchise as a psychological sci-fi horror is a stroke of genius, with a first act that leaves you questioning whether the strange events are even really happening or if they are all a figment of a scarred and damaged mind. Multiple extreme long shots are effective in placing the viewer as a fly on the wall, spying on the characters and giving us a sense of unease as to who or what could be watching. The tension builds throughout and as things escalate the true horror is slowly revealed, with some genuine shocks and a hugely satisfying ending. If Universal can reinvent some of their other Monsters in equally dynamic ways, we would certainly be in for a treat. This is a gripping and thrilling watch.
8/10
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