“He said that wherever I went, he would find me…”
Hammer horror movies are one area of the genre that has never appealed to me. I’ve never seen any of the classics – they all just look too cheesy and contrived to be enjoyed in this age of heads being ripped off and actual ghosts. As a result of this, I had very little knowledge of the titular character going in to The Invisible Man. In fact, I’d always assumed the eponymous mirage was the protagonist of the film, the hero of his own story. Turns out, that’s not the case…
Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) is stuck in an abusive relationship with dangerous millionaire Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). She soon discovers that even the sweet kiss of death isn’t enough to keep them apart.
Australian Director Leigh Whannell has an impressive pedigree in the world of horror. As the co-creator of both the Saw and Conjuring franchises, as well as being the sole director of 2018’s well received Upgrade, Whannell has carved out a niche for himself as someone who can deliver high concepts and high body counts without having to fall back on multi million dollar budgets. The Invisible Man does all of this while also reviving a franchise that was all but dead. The visual effects are simple but devastatingly effective and Whannell knows how to draw gasps without always resorting to extreme gore or jump scares (although there is plenty of both on offer here too).
This is not just Whannell’s baby, however. Elisabeth Moss remains as confidently affecting as she was in her breakout role as Peggy Olson in the inimitable Mad Men, and she is once again wonderful here as the hapless Cecilia. Her constant and heart wrenching struggle to cope, as various atrocities unfold around her, brings to mind Virginia Madsen’s similarly classy performance as Helen in the 1992 horror masterpiece Candyman.
The combination of Whannell’s innovative direction and Moss’ assured performance ensures that The Invisible Man will go down as one of the horror events of the year… regardless of whether another horror film will be released in this year of plagues and pandemics.