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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
INFERIOR UNRELATED SEQUEL TO THE FIRST TWO FILMS! STILL ENTERTAINS! 3 1/2 STARS!,
By
This review is from: Invisible Man's Revenge [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This is the final in the Invisible Man series of 3 films. By 1944 most of the Universal Monsters films were getting made on a very small budget and this last installment of the Invisible Man shows the same signs as the others, although not as bad. It's still a very entertaining film just a bit too contrived to take too seriously. The FX are pretty good but, most of the FX are parlor tricks and there are some wires showing here and there. It's a lot of fun and by this time in the series it's OK to laugh. This is available on DVD as part of the Invisible Man Legacy Collection along with 4 other films relating to invisibility. The DVD transfer is very good and there are some interesting extras included.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fourth Installment In Universal's "Invisible Man", Series,
By Simon Davis (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Invisible Man's Revenge [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Rampaging Mummies seeking revenge, mad doctors, and Invisible men where just some of the horror and fantasy themes that Universal Studios had cornered the market in during the 1940's war years. Audiences weary of hearing about the latest horrible occurrences at home and overseas could very easily loose themselves in the complete fantasy of these movies at least for a couple of hours before returning to the sombre real world outside the cinemas. Universal's "Invisible Man", series in particular was a great success in the early 40's and was itself an offshoot from the studios much earlier success with its 1933 effort "The Invisible Man", starring Claude Rains which was based on the famous H.G. Wells novel. These 1940's followup efforts of course were not as prestigious as that 1933 effort however Universal had a way with making even their "B", films appear like expensive productions. Of course with the subject matter dealt with here the rather ordinary stories were always enlived by the at times stunning special effects and "The Invisible Man's Revenge", was no exception. The title of this movie in reality tells the whole story however I find this effort, while certainly not up to the standard of the earlier film classic, an interesting one with good performances from a great cast, and some new and innovative "invisible" special effects that help to maintain the interest.
"The Invisible Man's Revenge", opens with an escaped killer Robert Griffin (Jon Hall), breaking out of his hiding place in a cargo container on an English Dock. He is a haunted man who is on the run from a mental institution. Having returned from five years spent in Africa he is also bent on revenge against some of his former friends who he believed duped him out of his share in a diamond mine in Africa and then left him for dead while they returned to England as rich people. Arriving at the home of Sir Jasper and Lady Irene Herrick (Lester Matthews & Gale Sondergaard), Robert is determined to claim his share of the fortune but the couple insist that they thought he was dead and that bad investments have wiped out any money they made. Drugging his wine glass they manage to dump Robert off the estate. When he almost drowns in the river he is rescued by a local tenant Herbert Higgins (Leon Errol). His attempts to blackmail the Herrick's on Robert's behalf fail and on the run again Robert encounters in a secluded cottage an eccentric scientist Dr. Drury (John Carradine), who is in the middle of experiements with invisibility on animals. Hearing of Robert's plight he suggests that he would be able to get anything he wants from the Herrick's by allowing himself to become invisible. Realising it is the only way for him to get his money off his former friends Robert agrees to be part of Dr. Drury's risky experiemnts and soon he becomes invisible. Terrorising the Herrick household Robert demands not only their estate and fortune but also the hand of their only daughter Julie (Evelyn Ankers). Realising he will never get Julie's hand while invisible Robert goes back to Dr. Frury where through the window he happens to see the doctor performing a blood transfusion on a dog which makes it become visible again. When the doctor however states that he cannot make humans visible again and that only by draining the blood of another person could it be done Robert murders him and performs the transfusion himself draining Dr. Drury's blood. Returning to the Herrick household as an unwelcome "guest" Robert however realises that his visibility is only temporary and that he now needs regular blood transfusions in order to remain visible. Seeing a rival for Julie's hand in reporter Mark Foster (Alan Curtis), Robert lures him down into the celler of the house and after a fight which results in Mark being knocked out he starts a blood transfusion draining off Mark's blood. However his scheme is undone by Dr. Drury's dog which sensing his former masters blood still being in a living human being has followed him to the house and keeps pursueing him. The dog alerts the police and the rest of the family as to Robert and Mark's whereabouts and they break down the celler door just in time to rescue Mark before his body is completely drained of blood. The dog in an excited rage however attacks and kills the quickly fading Robert thus freeing everyone of his insane vengenance. A trite story perhaps but the cast and special effects employed in "The Invisible Man's Revenge", make it an interesting entry in the "Invisible", series. Jon Hall despite having little character to really work with does a good enough job in displaying his vengeful character bent on revenge against those he believed cheated him. His rugged looks and fierce demeanour are perfect for getting over his villianous character bent on intimidating others to get what he wants. Horror veterans Evelyn Ankers and Gale Sondergaard are both sadly underused in this story and Sondergaard's character despite being integral to the plot strangely disappears a little under half way through the film which leaves an awkward gap in the proceedings and removes her usual excellent sinister screen presence from the story. Lester Matthews as her husband the threatened Sir. Herrick does however do a fine job as the man who is the main target for Robert's revenge. He performs beautifully in the scenes where he can hear but not see Robert threatening him or suddenly wrenching his arm up behind his back. Despite criticism of the comic element injected into the story by Leon Errol I find his character of the lovable vagabond Herbert Higgins a welcome light touch and his magical dart throwing scene at the pub, with alot of help from an invisible Robert, is a really amusing highlight to the story. For the ladies in 1944 handsome Alan Curtis playing Evelyn Ankers' boyfriend Mark was a popular leading man and while his character is on the bland side he does well in the climatic fight in the celler with Robert. The special effects of "The Invisible Man's Revenge", are of course the film's main talking point and they are of a uniformily fine quality. The scenes depicting a set of clothes moving around the room, characters or animals fading in and out, and especially when Jon Hall's character puts water or flour over his face to show his appearance really are quite breathtaking in their realism and are a credit to those technicians in 1944 who achieved them. The smoothness of these scenes and the almost total lack of evidence of how it was achieved never fails to amaze me for such an old production. While many regard "The Invisible Man's Revenge", one of the lesser efforts in the "Invisible", series I feel there is still much to appreciate and enjoy in this production. Never for one moment to be taken seriously I admire it for its expert technician achievements and the polish which which the special effects are incorporated into the scenes. Even in "B", efforts such as this the roster of actors that Universal Studios on a regular basis assembled never gave anything less than their best no matter how absurd the storyline was. A goodlooking and innovative production designed to distract war weary audiences, "The Invisible Man's Revenge", still makes good double feature viewing today if only to see the real beginnings of our special effects industry. I recommend you check out Universal's fourth film in the "Invisible", cycle "The Invisible Man's Revenge", soon.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Invisible Man Strikes Back!,
By
This review is from: Invisible Man's Revenge [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Unrelated to the other Invisible films by Universal and even using the same actor, Jon Hall, from The Invisible Agent. Griffin is a man who escaped from an asylum after killing two nurses (not shown) and finds that his partner in an African safari (who got a diamond mine there) got a bunch of money and Griffin wants it. And wants his daughter. After getting himself kicked out and nearly drowned, he finds his way to John Carradine's house, the mad scientist who has the invisibility serum.
It's great when Carradine opens the door and let's him into his house, with that leer and "You don't have a friend in the world, eh?" Carradine introduces him to his invisible dog and parrot and needs a human to experiment on. Once the formula works, Griffin beats him up and escapes, to use his invisibility in revenge against his partner. Special effects are fair; not sure how they make him invisible (positive/negative film perhaps) and we can see a few wires here and there with floating objects. The story is a bit hackneyed and some forced humor with a dart game in a bar -- the darts move way too slow to their bullseye, thanks to invisible help. Can't see what you'd like here (pun) but for the Universal Pictures fan, a must-see. Several levels below the Claude Rains original. Also see: Invisible Man - The Legacy Collection (The Invisible Man/Invisible Man Returns/Invisible Agent/Invisible Woman/Invisible Man's Revenge)
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