★★★★ out of ★★★★★
What you can’t see can kill you in this terrifying and timely update of Universal Pictures’ The Invisible Man.
Directed by Leigh Whannell
The past few years have given fans some stellar original horror features but they have also been a time when studios have made quick money grabs churning out multiple irrelevant sequels and any franchise that has made a dime has been up for grabs to reboot- deserved or not.
In 2017 Universal Pictures tried to cash in on their legendary monster movies from the early 1900’s by rebooting The Mummy with box office titan Tom Cruise- it was an utter disaster costing millions. The Invisible Man reboot that was then rumored to be in the pipeline was left on the cutting room floor until Leigh Whannell of Saw, Insidious and Upgrade fame teamed up with horror mega producer Jason Blum to give The Invisible Man an incredibly timely and terrifying update.
The Invisible Man stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, The Handmaid’s Tale) as Cecelia, the mentally and physically abused girlfriend of tech giant Adrian Griffin who escapes her tormentor under cover of night with the help of her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) and police detective friend James (Aldis Hodge). After weeks of living in hiding gripped by fear, Cecelia receives the news that Adrian has committed suicide and left her five million dollars.
Seemingly out of danger, Cecelia works to take back control of her life when series of strange events lead her to believe that not only has her ex-boyfriend faked his own death but that he is continuing his cycle of systematic abuse by making her look like she’s cripplingly paranoid and losing her mind while isolating her from family and friends with lethal results.
From the nail-bitingly tense opening scene, Elisabeth Moss shines in this domestic thriller that turns full horror after an “oh shit” moment raises the stakes. The film puts fresh new spin on a familiar story while keeping the viewer clenching their fists and on the edge of their seat- Leigh Whannell can add another notch to his horror belt with this film.
The Invisible Man is Rated R, and is in wide release in theaters across the USA. This $9.8 Million movie already is on track to being both a critical and box office success, and is likely to be a movie with “long legs”, so go check it out in the theaters when you can.