Halloween Movie Recommendation: The Invisible Man (1933)

​A mysterious stranger wrapped in bandages, with his eyes covered by dark goggles, walks into an English pub on a snowy night. No, that’s not the start of a joke; it’s the beginning of 1933’s “The Invisible Man.” 

The synopsis: While researching a new drug, Dr. Jack Griffin stumbles on a potion that can make him invisible. When he shares this information to his old mentor and his fiancée, they both realize a side effect of the potion is insanity. Jack goes on a violent rampage, the police try to hunt him down, and his mentor and his former partner try to devise a plan to capture him.

This film is based on the H. G. Wells' science fiction novel “The Invisible Man,” which was published in 1897. 

English actor Claude Rains played Griffin and this was Rains’ American film debut. He’s mostly a disembodied voice covered in bandages; you only see him only briefly at the end of the movie.

​By today’s standards, the effects look simple, but for their time, they're groundbreaking. I’ve no doubt moviegoers watching a pair of pants skip down a road, watching bicycle pedal by itself or watching Rains’ character unwrap his head to reveal nothing underneath gave one or three a heart attack. 

“The Invisible Man” is a great story, with incredible special effects and solid acting. It’s a movie that stands the test of time; the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes has given “The Invisible Man” 100% on the TOMATOMETER.
 
If you haven’t yet watched “The Invisible Man,” it’s time you see it – or in this case, don’t see it – for yourself.

Below is the film's trailer.

Claude Rains