Customer Reviews

Invisible Man Returns [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a big fan of Universal's Invisible Man films and they are too often overlooked. The production values and acting are far superior to the later Frankenstein and Mummy features of the 40's. While those films are a lot of fun the Invisible Man series is pretty smart and the FX were way ahead of their time. This is the first sequel to Invisible Man and I think in many ways on par with the original. At the very least it's very entertaining. This is available on DVD as part of the Invisible Man Legacy Collection along with 4 other films about invisiblity. The transfers are very good and there are some interesting extras included on the set. This is not to be passed up. I rate it 4 3/4 Stars.

I usually enjoy the Universal Horror Films of the Forties because they are quick, not to be taken seriously, and very entertaining. This film is no exception, and in fact is better than most of them. Vincent Price stars as a man wrongly accused of murder who is injected by his friend John Sutton (a doctor and the brother of the Claude Rains character in the first film) with a serum to make him invisible and able to find the real killer. Nan Grey is Price's girlfriend who helps him along the way. The special effects are good, and the climactic chase between Price and the killer is very well done. Price was a perfect choice for this film, which requires an actor with a great voice, since that is the actor's only asset for most of the film. Price (like the great Claude Rains before him) had an excellent, distinctive voice that he uses to great effect, portraying his descent into madness superbly. This film is a lot of fun to watch.

As a follow up to 1933's THE INVISIBLE MAN, this 1940 film seems lackluster and very much lacking in charm. Joe May's direction is incredibly static. He really never exploits the talents of Vincent Price, Cedric Hardwicke or Cecil Kellaway. The innocent Vincent Price gains invisibility, with the aid of John Sutton, while awaiting execution for his brother's murder. Cedric Hardwicke is the real culprit whom Price must expose while Scotland Yard inspector Cecil Kellaway closes in. The voice of Vincent Price serves the invisible man very well, Cedric Hardwicke is his usual competent self and Cecil Kellaway is well cast as the jovial inspector. It all sounds good on paper but director Joe May never explores the characters beyond these thumbnail sketches. Even excellent production values are present. Universal created a British coal-mining factory complete with an operating railway coal car elevator system and an adjacent work town in great detail on their back-lot. This aspect demonstrates the great dichotomy present in this film. When the camera roles indoors the film remains dreadfully uninteresting. Once director Joe May gets the camera outdoors the film comes to life and becomes dynamic. Other elements in this film's favor are the brilliant special effects by John P. Fulton, which he managed to keep innovative and fresh. These elements along with Vincent Price's gleeful and energetic approach to his character save this film. However, this should have been a much better film than what was finally released.

It took Universal Studios an amazing 7 years to decide to build on their earlier (1933) movie success with the very famous H.G. Wells spine tingler "The Invisible Man". Starring Claude Rains in his film debut as the invisible man who sets out on a reign of terror against all those who had done him wrong, the movie was a great success and was remarkable for its state of the art (for the time), special effects. Universal's follow up "The Invisible Man Returns", in 1940 was intended to duplicate that success with a similiar story starring Vincent Price in only his fourth film and first true horror role, a genre he would later gain his greatest stardom in. This 1940 follow up took at times a slightly different slant on the familiar story even injecting some humour into the procedings which luckily didn't detract from the seriousness of the theme. Where this film really excelled and won its own unique praise upon release in 1940 was in the stunning special effects used to show a man supposedly invisible moving objects around, undressing, and wrestling with fully visible individuals. Even by todays standards these effects are still brilliant to witness in their smoothness and precision and really succeed in grabbing the viewers attention. Thse special effects received a deserved Special Effects Academy Award nomination in 1940 and earned this follow up effort its own unique position of worth in horror films.

Vincent Price stars as Geoffrey Radcliffe a man wrongly accused of murdering his own brother Michael and who awaits the hangman's rope on death row. Geoffrey however has a friend Dr. Frank Griffin (John Sutton), who was the younger brother of the earlier famous "Invisible Man". Like his brother he is a scientist and has been working on perfecting his late brothers discovery of an invisibility serum. Frank visits Geoffrey in prison and by giving him the serum enables Geoffrey to simply walk out of the prison giving him time to hunt down his brothers real murderer. The invisibility formula however is still not perfected and after a couple of days induces madness and then death on anyone who takes it. While Frank frantically works on an antidote for Geoffrey his fiancee Helen (Nan Grey), hides him out in a remote farm house to evade the police. Helen has a hard time becoming used to Geoffrey's invisible state and his often violent mood swings and things are not helped by the fact that a nationwide man hunt is put in place headed by Inspector Sampson of Scotland Yard (Cecil Kellaway), to track Geoffrey down. Leaving the farm house Geoffrey begins his hunt for the real murderer however his mind begins to suffer from the effects of the serum and with frank still unable to complete the antidote Geoffrey actually becomes dangerous even to his friends. Through the ravings of a terrified factory foreman Willie Spears (Alan Napier), Geoffrey realises that Richard Cobb (Cedric Hardwicke), is the real culprit and he begins to pursue him. At first Richard refuses to believe that Geoffrey is invisible until Geoffrey beats him up and starts to force him to write a letter at gun point admitting his guilt. Meanwhile Inspector Sampson surrounds Richard's house in an effort to trap Geoffrey who manages to allude capture yet again. In the climatic escape scene Geoffrey pursues Richard to the factory site where the murder took place and in a savage fight in a mining wagon dumping rock into a pit Richard is thrown down the shaft and Geoffrey is hit by a police bullet. Richard on the point of death admits his guilt in the murder to Helen and Frank and when Geoffrey staggers into Frank's lab dressed in some old rags having lost a lot of blood from the gun shot a simple blood transfusion turns out to be the much needed antidote for Geoffrey's invisibility that returns him to normal. Now proven to be completely innocent Geoffrey is happily reunited with his Fiancee Helen at th ehappy finale.

In his first true starring role Vincent Price does admirably in portraying a character that has to rely solely on his voice and its various inflections to get across to the audience what he is feeling and experiencing. He fulfills much the same role as Claude Raines did in the original film and Vincent Price's rich and highly dramatic voice lends itself perfectly for this part as we hear his character develop through the stage of being a wrongly accused man seeking justice into a crazed fiend seeking to dominate others and gain world power by any murderous means if necessary. It is a tour de force for Vincent Price and despite some at times rather flat direction by Joe May, he is aided by some great work by gifted characters actor Cedric Hardwicke who is wonderful as the real villian of the piece, mixing a veneer of respectability above that of a calaculating murderer, and by Cecil Kellaway in a nice change of direction playing the clever cigar smoking head of Scotland Yard sent to track this mysterious invisible man down. Nan Green also does well in what could have ordinarily been a rather thankless role as the tormented love interest and her scenes reacting to the first sight of Geoffrey's invisible state are especially note worty. Of course the real star of this film is the excellent special effects courtesy of John P. Fulton that are still staggering in their originality and presentation, the scenes of Geoffrey unwinding bandages from around his invisible head or undressing himself are still amazing after all these years and long stay in the mind. For a Universal film alot of money seems to have be used on the film's general look and the wonderful factory town which is the main setting for the story was erected on the Universal Backlot especially for this film.

Universal had a way with these great horror stories during the 1940's and "The Invisible Man Returns", is one of their better efforts from this period. Good performances combined with the excellent special effects make it a film that stands on its own unique merits even in the light of its classic predecessor from 1933. Vincent Price really set the course for his future illustrious horror film career in this early effort which is well worth any horror film buff including in their personal collection. Enjoy!

This movie is a lot of good fun. I had wanted to own this film for a long time and I am glad I do own it. I am eleven years old and I think this movie would rate better than the modern junk and gore! Even though it is a sequel, some people may think this one surpasses the original in some ways. As for an MPAA rating, I would give it a PG-13. I think this because the movie would give some children nightmares because of the poor Willie Spears character getting beat up by the Invisible Man in the middle sequence, and also Cedric Hardwicke (Cobb, the real murderer) getting choked and pounded!!! Now, let's go back to comparing this film to modern junk gore such as CHILD`S PLAY! You know what, there is no comparison! Why?!! Because this film, all in all, is a real classic horror sequel!!!

This movie is a lot of good fun. I had wanted to own this film for a long time and I am glad I do own it. I am eleven years old and I think this movie would rate better than the modern junk and gore! Even though it is a sequel, some people may think this one surpasses the original in some ways. As for an MPAA rating, I would give it a PG-13. I think this because the movie would give some children nightmares because of the poor Willie Spears character getting beat up by the Invisible Man in the middle sequence, and also Cedric Hardwicke (Cobb, the real murderer) getting choked and pounded!!! Now, let's go back to comparing this film to modern junk gore such as CHILD`S PLAY! You know what, there is no comparison! Why?!! Because this film, all in all, is a real classic horror sequel!!!

Universal's first sequel to 1933's Invisble Man is often overlooked, but was probably one of the better horror films the studio cranked out in the 1940's. Vincent Price took over as the invisible one and does a fine job. Price is wrongly accused of a crime and he is injected with the invisibility serum so that he can be taken from jail and they can find out who set him up. The story is decent, but the acting and the special effects really help make this one a winner. Just like the first film, this one was ahead of it's time with it's special effects. Their is a scene where the detective is puffing away on his cigar and talking to a man they think will be the next victim and the outline of the invisible man appears amidst the smoke, this looks sharp even today. The first film was a classic and they could not hope to top it, but this is a fine film in it's own way, better than most of the Frankenstein and Mummy sequels that Universal cranked out.

This is my favorite Invisible Man movie. The story is uneven, and it could probably have been trimmed by about 20 minutes, but it's worth watching for Vincent Price's droll/melodramatic/ spooky performance. I can't explain, you have to see it to get it. It's also very atmospheric - it's surprisingly surreal/expressionistic in places. Also noteworthy are the special effects. Although they're fairly low budget and low tech, they're also very ambitious and fun. Watch for the scarecrow scene - the incredible mood is only slightly marred by the Worst Travelling Matte In Cinema History.

Oh wow, this is the scariest movie I seen since Bride of Chucky which will stil give me nightmares. Vince Price is king of horror movies as faras I'm conserned. His voice is the ting that makes it so much scarier than first invisible man even though first invisible man with Claudehopper Reins is probably better all round movie. This one is much better than The Fly with Vince Price but I like this story better than first invisible man. It kind of weird when on emovie is better but the jother one has better voice and better story. I guress this is where the director comes in if all the actors do a good job than anything is probably possible. Have a good time, and watch this movie with a soft dringk and pop some corn.

As a sequel to the original this is an average film. Considerable money went into the look of this film but the script is weak. Vincent Price is good as usual but better roles would be in his future. Yet, Price breaths life into this role with the delivery of his lines, which is amusing at times. Without Vincent Price there is very little to recommend this film on.