Jaden Jordan
- Aug 12, 2021
- 2 min read

The Invisible Man (2020)

The Breakdown: After escaping her abusive partner who then kills himself, a woman believes that his death was fake and he has become her invisible tormenter.

Watch If: You want a decently creepy and well-done remake of a classic Universal horror.

Not If: You need every moment to be tense.

SECONDARY FACTS

Overall Rating: 4.0

Length: 2:04

Country: Canada/Australia/USA

Language: English

REVIEW

THE QUICK AND DIRTY

The Invisible Man is a tense and captivating film that pays due respect to its origin and still brings new life into an old story. In short, it is an example of a perfect remake.

PREMISE: 4

. Horror fans out there, I don't have to tell you that the invisible man's been done before. In fact, it's been done almost 20 times before, but I've never seen it done quite like this. The decision to focus on a character other than the invisible man himself, and furthermore, to intentionally obscure his character was absolutely brilliant, and gave the name "the invisible man" that air of mystery that has been afforded to all of his brethren of the pre-code horror silver screen.

ACTING: 4

The acting in this film is great. Especially when you consider how silly some of these scenes must have been to film. Between the writing and the actor's performances, the characters in this film feel like people, with thoughts and feelings rather than just reactions. Too often in horror, particularly in other Blumhouse films, that isn't the case.

AUDIO AND VISUALS: 4

The Invisible Man couples voyeuristic cinematography with captivating special effects and a tension driving score to present an engaging and stimulating film, It toys with perception and tension with almost cheeky ease, and there's a degree of professional respect woven into this film that I did not ever expect to find in a Blumhouse film.

ATMOSPHERE: 4

The tense moments are tense, the light moments are light, and the juxtaposition of the too highlights the happy end that the characters want- a light-hearted normalcy. The idea of what could be is the thing that builds stakes- no one cares what could happen unless they are provided a relief. Not having a dog is only sad in the context of having once had one. A family being torn apart by an invisible tormentor is made more tragic by the demonstration of how happy they were beforehand.

There are no wasted moments, no aimless shots. Every piece of this film serves a purpose.

While I'm not advocating that this film should be shorter, it is over 2 hours long, and about 3/4 of the way through, you do start to feel it.

DELIVERY: 4

Remakes are hard to get right. Someone will always be mad that it isn't the original. If you change too much, its wrong, if you don't change enough, there wasn't a point. To create a film that holds a respect for its source while still managing to be original is a feat that requires diligence and passion. It is a tricky thing to do, and this film did it exceptionally well.