When he wasn't being the visionary behind The War of the Worlds, HG Wells was also giving us classic tales like the original Invisible Man, the story of an unstable scientist named Griffin who makes himself, well, exactly that. Compared to some of his other works, it's not been adapted as much--there was the classic 1933 James Whale film, which was pretty damn good on both a directorial and technical level for its time. And there's been a couple of films inspired by the story, like 2000's Hollow Man, which gave us an enjoyably maniacal Kevin Bacon but otherwise suffered from an uneven script and forgettable characters beyond the lead.
So, with a somewhat mixed and minimal legacy, how does this new entry do? Pretty well, I'm pleased to say. It's got very little to do with the Wells story itself, besides there being a scientist called Griffin who can make himself invisible, but what it does by itself is well worth your while.
Elisabeth Moss is the lead as Cecilia Kass, the abused significant other of wealthy researcher Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who barely manages to escape his controlling influence in a suitably tense and soundless opening. Things seem sunny for her as she moves in with her friend James (Aldis Hodge) and sister Emily (Harriet Dyer), and Griffin seems to be gone forever. However, it's never that simple--and before long, things start to shift, something unseen starts to creep back into her life, leading her to find herself being tormented by a man who could be literally anywhere unnoticed.
It's a good a demonstration as any for the idea of gaslighting--and really drives home how unsettling it can be, with true malice and vindictiveness. You find yourself sharing Cecilia's rising paranoia, studying every frame for where the titular sight-avoiding bloke could be. There's some nice subtle sound effects that indicate his presence, and start to get your senses heightened. And Griffin is smart enough to exploit his ability to the full, driving apart Cecilia from her friends in ways smarter and more subtle than Kevin Bacon could muster.
I do enjoy the way the film ramps itself up--there comes a moment when a line is really crossed, and from there, the stakes and the tension start really going into overdrive. For all the torment and torture Cecilia goes through, you really cheer for her whenever she does start to fight back and get a hit in, no matter what it costs her. And when Griffin sinks to ever greater depths in turn, in one pretty horrifying sequence, it gets you hooked.
So overall? Yeah, it was a pleasant surprise, and one I can wholeheartedly recommend. The only real flaws I can think of are on the nitpicky side, and for what it sets out to do, it does admirably. Compared to other entries with invisible men, like the incredibly silly League of Extraordinary Gentlemen adaptation, this one soars through with flying colors. It's also difficult to imagine that this was meant to be part of the 'Dark Universe' that Universal had in mind that nobody ended up caring about, and was thankfully transformed from yet another cinematic universe delivery vehicle to something that could stand on its own. It certainly joins my list of nicely done contemporary horror films--as one, if you'll please avoid throwing tomatoes at me, I never saw coming.
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