"The Invisible Man's Revenge" isn't that bad of an entry in the series.
**SPOILERS**
Returning to London, Robert Griffin, (Jon Hall) meets up with old friend Jasper Herrick, (Lester Matthews) and wife Irene, (Gale Sondergaard) and, after having too much to drink, finds himself thrown out of the house. Wondering in the wilderness, he happens upon the house of eccentric Dr. Peter Drury, (John Carradine) a scientist working on the possibilities of invisibility. Agreeing to become a test subject, he is injected with the formula and becomes invisible. Using the opportunity to seek revenge on the Griffin's for betraying him earlier, he carries it out and manages to fully avenge it. Still not satisfied, he takes to the streets of London with his friend Herbert Higgins, (Leon Errol) to make full advantage of his condition before he is found out.
The Good News: This here wasn't that bad. The invisible man's hijinks in the film aren't that bad. After becoming invisible, the first thing to do is to see an old friend, who now invisible, spends the whole affair doing certain activities that indicate he's still there. From twirling a knife in the air to waving papers around and other such tricks as pulling chairs and denting seat cushions, this is one of the creepiest scenes in the film, due to the amount of antics on display that come across beautifully. There are some good invisibility effects in here that still look great now, with the Invisible Man splashing water and flour on his face at various points, leaving only the touched parts to become ghostly visible. A later effect where they are undergoing the transformation and a ghostly outline running in front of a window is executed flawlessly. As with the first one, a little humor is injected into the film. The drunkard who becomes the Invisible Man's visible assistant is responsible for some really funny moments, the best of which is the invisibly-assisted darts game in the pub, which is a comedic gem. From the different positions to the fact that the darts are clearly not being thrown on their own trajectory to hit the targets, this is hugely funny and gets the film's best laughs. Also quite hilarious is the frequent attempts to keep a barking guard dog from getting at it's intended target to the dismay of those who own the dog. It's finale is quite action-packed, filled with several great scenes packed inside a tiny space and featuring a couple of pretty nifty ideas as well, and is the clear highlight as the best part of the film. It's a decent enough entry in the series.
The Bad News: There wasn't a lot wrong, but there was a few problems in it. One of the main problems is the really off pacing in the film. It attempts to recapture that combination of comedy and horrific suspense that was the earmark of the first movie in the series, but whereas that movie balanced the elements in such a way that they played off of and enhanced each other, here we just have suspense scenes giving way to comic scenes giving way to suspense scenes without really building to an organic whole. This makes it seem like it was really two different movies put together and thrown into the mix, with an effort made to link them together. The switch in tones is quite apparent, though, where in one scene the invisible man helps an old friend win a dart-throwing game, then a few minutes later threatening to kill someone. That illustrates the problem quite readily. Also quite off is the long amount of time until the invisible man appears on-screen. It takes a good twenty-to-thirty minutes before it transpires, and that leaves the first half to consist of some really slow scenes as the race to the switch happens. Unlike the others, which had the antics transpire on-screen fairly rapidly in the pace, this one's wait is a curious inclusion. It's not a noticeable distraction, but it is one nonetheless. Otherwise, this is a really OK entry in the series.
The Final Verdict: While not all that much of a classic, it has enough moments of fun to be more than the total wasted entry many had claimed of it. It's good enough to warrant a rental first, as it's not near the classic original, but if judged on it's own, it's not that bad at all.
Today's Rating-PG: Mild Violence
**SPOILERS**
Returning to London, Robert Griffin, (Jon Hall) meets up with old friend Jasper Herrick, (Lester Matthews) and wife Irene, (Gale Sondergaard) and, after having too much to drink, finds himself thrown out of the house. Wondering in the wilderness, he happens upon the house of eccentric Dr. Peter Drury, (John Carradine) a scientist working on the possibilities of invisibility. Agreeing to become a test subject, he is injected with the formula and becomes invisible. Using the opportunity to seek revenge on the Griffin's for betraying him earlier, he carries it out and manages to fully avenge it. Still not satisfied, he takes to the streets of London with his friend Herbert Higgins, (Leon Errol) to make full advantage of his condition before he is found out.
The Good News: This here wasn't that bad. The invisible man's hijinks in the film aren't that bad. After becoming invisible, the first thing to do is to see an old friend, who now invisible, spends the whole affair doing certain activities that indicate he's still there. From twirling a knife in the air to waving papers around and other such tricks as pulling chairs and denting seat cushions, this is one of the creepiest scenes in the film, due to the amount of antics on display that come across beautifully. There are some good invisibility effects in here that still look great now, with the Invisible Man splashing water and flour on his face at various points, leaving only the touched parts to become ghostly visible. A later effect where they are undergoing the transformation and a ghostly outline running in front of a window is executed flawlessly. As with the first one, a little humor is injected into the film. The drunkard who becomes the Invisible Man's visible assistant is responsible for some really funny moments, the best of which is the invisibly-assisted darts game in the pub, which is a comedic gem. From the different positions to the fact that the darts are clearly not being thrown on their own trajectory to hit the targets, this is hugely funny and gets the film's best laughs. Also quite hilarious is the frequent attempts to keep a barking guard dog from getting at it's intended target to the dismay of those who own the dog. It's finale is quite action-packed, filled with several great scenes packed inside a tiny space and featuring a couple of pretty nifty ideas as well, and is the clear highlight as the best part of the film. It's a decent enough entry in the series.
The Bad News: There wasn't a lot wrong, but there was a few problems in it. One of the main problems is the really off pacing in the film. It attempts to recapture that combination of comedy and horrific suspense that was the earmark of the first movie in the series, but whereas that movie balanced the elements in such a way that they played off of and enhanced each other, here we just have suspense scenes giving way to comic scenes giving way to suspense scenes without really building to an organic whole. This makes it seem like it was really two different movies put together and thrown into the mix, with an effort made to link them together. The switch in tones is quite apparent, though, where in one scene the invisible man helps an old friend win a dart-throwing game, then a few minutes later threatening to kill someone. That illustrates the problem quite readily. Also quite off is the long amount of time until the invisible man appears on-screen. It takes a good twenty-to-thirty minutes before it transpires, and that leaves the first half to consist of some really slow scenes as the race to the switch happens. Unlike the others, which had the antics transpire on-screen fairly rapidly in the pace, this one's wait is a curious inclusion. It's not a noticeable distraction, but it is one nonetheless. Otherwise, this is a really OK entry in the series.
The Final Verdict: While not all that much of a classic, it has enough moments of fun to be more than the total wasted entry many had claimed of it. It's good enough to warrant a rental first, as it's not near the classic original, but if judged on it's own, it's not that bad at all.
Today's Rating-PG: Mild Violence