31 Days of Horror Reviews 2018: The Invisible Man Returns

The Invisible Man Returns sees (or rather doesn’t see) Vincent Price take up the mantle previously held by Claude Rains.

REVIEW

This was the first Universal Monster Movie released in 1940 beginning the second wave of horror films by the studio that would later release The Wolf Man, The Kharis Series, pretty much use Lon Chaney Jr. for a lot of their movies. This is actually a very good sequel that in some respects actually tops the original. The whole story is about Geoffrey Radcliffe (Vincent Price) who was wrongly accused and sentenced to hang for the murder of his brother. He gets help from Frank Griffin, the brother of the original Invisible Man, who gives him the same formula for invisibility so that he can find the real killer. As the film progresses, Geoffrey develops the same wild dreams of power that his predecessor had and it’s not long before he starts to get violent. It’s a detective murder mystery film that is well written, well acted and another great sequel from Universal.

Vincent Price gives such an amazing vocal performance that is just as good if not better than Claude Rains. He spends most of the film as just a voice and we only get to see his face at the end of the film for a brief scene. This was his first role in the horror genre before he became associated with it. The visual effects were definitely more ambitious this time around and they pulled it off beautifully. Their hard work received recognition from the Academy when the film was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to The Thief of Baghdad.

The best scene that really showcases Price’s vocal performance and the visual effects is the interrogation scene. Geoffrey finds one of the murder accomplices and scares the living daylights out of him. It really echoes the dark humor that the original film had and had me in stitches for hours.

The Invisible Man Returns is a sequel masterpiece and another new favorite from the Universal Classics.