Customer Reviews

Invisible Man's Revenge [VHS]

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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.

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.

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)

Caught this flick last night on AMC, not to mention I own it, but it's been a while since I last seen it. But it's safe to say that it still holds it's status as a minor yet very enjoyable B Horror film. Right from the first studio that Dripped blood-"Universal". This was their 5th and final entry in their Invisible Man series, and while it's not on par(there's no denying it) with it's 4 predeccors, it's definatly an above average B shocker-that still manages to outdistance any of their Mummy films that were being produced at the time(with the exception of The Mummy's Hand(1940), of course) A very classy film for it's kind(for it's status) the film benifits from an Exceptional cast, John Carridine comes to mind. Beautiful Camera work by Milton Krasner, a fine atmosphereic score by Universal regular Hans J. Salter, and some rather compentent if-rather awkward direction by B film specialist Ford Bebe, who seems to have a stronger feel for pacing rather than for atmosphereics, moving the film along in a brisk direction, never making the audience feel bored--a saving grace from that somewhat muddled film script that the filmakers seem to be working from, most notably in the opening and middle reels of the film. Another thing that boggs the film down is the clumsy editing job, theres a certain air about the picture thats seems it could have been benifited by a much tighter constuction, netherless the film as a whole suffers, and the much comedic padding doesn't help matters either. Still u get a film that suceeds in what it's meant to do--entertain. And while the film suffers from scripting and techincal matters...the film still emerges as a slightly above-average B shocker, and one of the very last of their decent horror entries, before Universal ventured off into the "non-competent" era of Horror, the 1945-1946 period, churning out such "B" dreadfuls as The Brute Man, and Shewolf of London(both 1946) until they finnaly closed their doors on their Horror product altogether.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Grade: B- 84%

Hall plays a homicidal paranoic who thinks (unjustly) that he has been swindled out of great wealth. After learning some tricks about invisibility from crackpot scientist John Carradine, he goes on a rampage against his would-be persecuters. Not a bad little horror film but too much footage is given Leon Errol, the film's comic relief. The end result is a thriller that could have been tighter with less padding. 2 1/2 stars.

The Invisible Man's Revenge is one hour and eighteen minutes long and was released on June 9, 1944. Unlike the Invisible Man Returns and the Invisible Agent, this does not follow a timeline nor is it a sequel like Frankenstein and the Mummy sequels. The thing that it is shared is the last name Griffin and the movie does not indicate that he is related to Jack or Frank Griffin. Jon Hall makes his second and last appearance as the Invisible Man. Robert Griffin has escape from a mental institution and is on his way to England to get his share of the fortune due to him. When he gets to the home of Lady Irene Herrick and Sir Jasper Herrick, he demands his share and wants it now. Jasper is reluctantly willing to hand it over, but his wife Irene is not. Though it is hinted in the movie that she caused him to loose his memory, she never omits openly. Irene drugs Robert whiskey and convinces Jasper that he is still insane and steals the proof of paper that proves he is equal to half of everything. They dump his body near a river where Roberts almost drowns until he is rescued. In the middle of the movie he finds Dr. Peter Drury who invented an invisible formula. Dr. Drury turns Robert invisible and Robert set out seeking revenge on the family that tried to kill him. End the end Brutus a dog winds up killing the Invisible Man. The story is so-so and the acting is lame. In the end, you wished that Brutus killed Lady Irene Herrick and Sir Jasper Herrick and feel sorry for Robert Griffin. I can only give this movie a C-.

Okay, technically, my 2nd favorite Invisible Man movie is "The Invisible Woman", but that's a comedy.

"Revenge" is actually the only one of the "Invisible Man" sequels in which the Invisible Man is a true menace like he was in the Claude Rains original.

The plot doesn't make much sense, and Jon Hall is no Claude Raines or Vincent Price, but don't let any of that throw you. Enjoy his wreaking vengeance on those whom he accuses of wronging him, and the clever and innovative photographic tricks. This Invisible Man is seen with water on his face 56 years before "Hollow Man!"

What else can be said? Remade and butchered, this classic mixes and interesting concept and plot with the campy B effect every sci-fier and monster movie fan would enjoy. 4 stars because it is a little bit slow to get going, but otherwise great.

Jon Hall wants revenge on the couple that have swindled him out of a fortune. He not only expects to take over their estate, but he also expects their daughter's hand in marriage as well. He stumbles upon a doctor experimenting with invisibility, and uses this weapon to get what he wants. This film had some potential, but much of it is wasted. Jon Hall isn't much of an actor (not that the role required him to be), so he isn't very compelling. Evelyn Ankers, the scream queen, is given very little to do here, appearing in just a few throw away scenes. The great Gale Sondergaard, a great presence in many movies, shows up in the first third of the film, then disappears (suffering from nerves, it is explained in the story). John Carradine is fun as the scientist, the only somewhat memorable character. The back story of the plot is confusing, leaving me with more questions than answers, and the direction is choppy. There are a few good special effects, but that's not enough to compensate for the rest of the film. I usually like these Universal horror films, but this one need a complete overhaul before it was even filmed.

The "menace and out-and-out horror" promised by Universal are invisible in this rather lukewarm installment in the "IM" series. Star Jon Hall is pretty to look at, and he might even be a good thespian, though the script (and Ford Bebbe's clumsy direction) certainly don't give him any chance to prove it. The plot is as vapid as it is improbable (and confusing): A man named Robert Griffin stows away on a ship, returning to England to get the money owed to him by his "business partners," who happened to be Mr. and Mrs. We end up with bad guy versus badder guy and gal ... with lots of plot manipulations and oversized hypodermic needles thrown in. What makes the film worth watching (once) are the (limited) special effects; most specially the scene in which Griffin reveals his invisible eyes and the nifty bit in which he splatters flour on his face to prove his identity to a friend. This Wells have run dry.