What I Watched In March

Leigh Whannell’s remake/reimaging/adaptation/whatever of THE INVISIBLE MAN is one of the best science fiction horror films of recent years. As the screenwriter he chose a brilliant way into the tale shifting the focus from the title character to his victims which allows the invisible person at the center of the story to remain offscreen as we learn about him from other characters. The picture we get is one of a near psychotic paranoid control freak intent on getting his way at every turn. Being the very wealthy inventor of sophisticated surveillance technology, it has been easy for him to have his way except for one glaring spot in his life – he can’t make his girlfriend do more than fear him. In fact, his controlling nature has done so much harm to her mentally and physically that as the film begins she is executing an elaborate plan to escape from their shared home. Once away from him the film becomes a smart, perfectly directed tale of terror, murder and the madness that comes from feeling stalked by something that isn’t there. Or is it?

Whannell’s most ingenious decision in crafting this story is in rethinking the drive of the man at the center of the action. In the 1933 film an ambitious man succeeds in creating an astonishing breakthrough but is pushed to madness by it. This film is about a man who is so successful in such a profitable way that his madness is tolerated and even encouraged. Instead of his scientific breakthrough/discovery slowly driving him mad, it was his madness (or at least his personality disorder) that allows him to accomplish the breakthrough around which the film revolves. It is his ‘madness’ that pushed him toward this discovery meaning that his flaws created the capability to achieve his incredible accomplishment but it is also what will be his downfall. Just changing the focus from the title character to victim wasn’t considered enough to craft a new tale. Whannell wisely saw that the kind of person that could create such a next level project would have to be slightly cracked from the beginning. That insight makes THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020) more than just a clever horror film – it is also a scary look inside a disordered mind. It’s nice to see a movie think several steps beyond the standard twist endings a good thriller can provide and nail each and every one. Bravo!

The List 

PANTHER SQUAD (1984) – 3 (Jack Taylor is great in this mess) 

DINOSAURUS! (1960) – 4 (not great)

THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020) – 9 

THE MAGIC SWORD (1961) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) 

DANGEROUS CARGO (1977) – 6 (Greek crime film) 

UPGRADE (2018) – 7 (solid, scary sci-fi thriller) 

THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929) – 6 (creaky but well done mystery) 

THE STRANGE DOOR (1951) – 8 (rewatach on Blu) 

THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB (1964) – 7 (rewatch on Blu) 

GIGANTES PLANETARIOS (1966) – 3 (terrible but amusing Mexican SF/comedy) 

THE FALCON AND THE CO-EDS (1943) – 7 (very good/artful entry in the series) 

EXTERMINATOR 2 (1984)- 6 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE EYES OF ORSON WELLES (2018) – 9 (excellent subjective look at the great man’s art)

X THE UNKNOWN (1957) – 7 (rewatch) 

DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY (1950) – 6 (the radio show on the big screen!)