Movie to watch on Halloween - 6
The Invisible Man (1933) is a science fiction horror movie from before Hollywood censorship was more rigorously enforced one year later. It got an English director with James Whale who's best remembered for three other horror movies : Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), all considered classics nowadays.
Whale's third succesful movie is thus my pick this time. It's loosely based on H. G. Wells's 1897 novel with the same title. It was at the developing stage for Universal as early as 1931 when screenwriters Richard L. Schayer and Robert Florey suggested that Wells' novel would make a good follow-up to the studio's horror film hit Dracula, however, the studio opted to make Frankenstein first instead.
The movie starts with a stranger, someone called Dr. Jack Griffin (Rains), arriving in a small English village. He's covered in bandages and has even his eyes obscured by dark glasses. No-one can guess that this is the result of a secret experiment making him completely invisible. Never leaving his quarters, he demands absolute solitude until he's eventually discovered being invisible.
The story follows thus a scientist who became invisible through a botched experiment that has also driven him to madness by the drug itself, escalating his actions from mischief to violence. Griffin actually tries in a sense to prove his own superiority over others, including to the woman who he loves, by performing harmless pranks at first and eventually turning to murder.
The Invisible Man used suspense with an increasingly dangerous protagonist, and clever special effects to create a really frightening atmosphere, aligning it with traditional horror movies often associated with Halloween. Back then it had already a goofy sense of humor, and was the really memorable film debut of Rains. He was perfectly cast as the mad scientist/invisible man.
Having found limited success as a stage actor in both England and New York, Rains made this really sensational film debut that launched a very long Hollywood career as a character player whose charm and finely modulated voice graced many of the finest movies. Although he failed his initial screen test for The Invisible Man, his voice was so striking that Whale hired him nevertheless
[media=https://youtu.be/sD3nlUold3I]
Whale's third succesful movie is thus my pick this time. It's loosely based on H. G. Wells's 1897 novel with the same title. It was at the developing stage for Universal as early as 1931 when screenwriters Richard L. Schayer and Robert Florey suggested that Wells' novel would make a good follow-up to the studio's horror film hit Dracula, however, the studio opted to make Frankenstein first instead.
The movie starts with a stranger, someone called Dr. Jack Griffin (Rains), arriving in a small English village. He's covered in bandages and has even his eyes obscured by dark glasses. No-one can guess that this is the result of a secret experiment making him completely invisible. Never leaving his quarters, he demands absolute solitude until he's eventually discovered being invisible.
The story follows thus a scientist who became invisible through a botched experiment that has also driven him to madness by the drug itself, escalating his actions from mischief to violence. Griffin actually tries in a sense to prove his own superiority over others, including to the woman who he loves, by performing harmless pranks at first and eventually turning to murder.
The Invisible Man used suspense with an increasingly dangerous protagonist, and clever special effects to create a really frightening atmosphere, aligning it with traditional horror movies often associated with Halloween. Back then it had already a goofy sense of humor, and was the really memorable film debut of Rains. He was perfectly cast as the mad scientist/invisible man.
Having found limited success as a stage actor in both England and New York, Rains made this really sensational film debut that launched a very long Hollywood career as a character player whose charm and finely modulated voice graced many of the finest movies. Although he failed his initial screen test for The Invisible Man, his voice was so striking that Whale hired him nevertheless
[media=https://youtu.be/sD3nlUold3I]
