The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)

Movie Info

So will the light refract around me…or do you actually see through me…if I go to the bathroom, will you see it?

Robert Griffin (Jon Hall) was presumed dead by his partners on a diamond expedition, but after years of amnesia, his memory has returned.  Now, he’s come back to get his part of the fortune but is filled with rage toward Sir Jasper and Lady Irene Herrick (Lester Matthews Gale Sondergaard) who he blames for his condition.  When Jasper and Irene refuse to pay his portion immediately, they decide they can’t let anyone know who Griffin really is.  Discovered by a mad scientist named Dr. Peter Drury (John Carradine), Griffith is about to become invisible…but invisibility only aggravates his madness.

Directed by Ford Beebe, The Invisible Man’s Revenge is the final installment in Universal Pictures’ classic Invisible Man series.  Following Invisible Agent in 1942, The Invisible Man’s Revenge returns to more of a science-fiction horror storyline similar to the first film.  The movie is often found collected with the other Invisible Man stories.

Can you see me now, lady?

Even from the get-go, I wasn’t much of an Invisible Man fan when compared to some of Universal Pictures other big monsters.  The movies were less horrific and more science-fiction than other films like Frankenstein and Dracula.  I found the format changes of the previous entries in this series a little tedious since they had no horror aspects, but at least this film had a bit of a return to horror.

The story for this movie is a bit odd in that I didn’t find myself siding with anyone in it.  I couldn’t tell if we were supposed to feel sorry for Griffin who genuinely did seem screwed over by his partners who weren’t paying him, or if we were to think he was mad (he’s an escaped mental patient)…if so, his madness toward the beginning of the film wasn’t played up enough for you to really feel that Irene and Jasper were doing the right thing by denying him his money.  In addition to the basic premise, I didn’t feel the romance between Julie (Evelyn Ankers) and Mark (Alan Curtis) was very interesting as it was added in the final act of the film.

I see you!

As mentioned, I can’t determine if the script or the acting is at fault in this movie for not helping to determine who to side with.  Jon Hall as the Invisible Man was mad, but he wasn’t up to the level of Claude Rains…he was just kind of a jerk.  I still found John Carradine as the mad scientist fun, but Herbert Higgins (Leon Errol) as the sidekick for Griffin was a rather annoying hanger-oner.

The visuals for the film are still quite interesting, even in this late entry.  I particularly like the point in the film where Griffin made himself visible by placing water on his face from the aquarium.  It was an interesting effect and still seems ahead of its time.

The Invisible Man’s Revenge fortunately ends the Invisible Man’s reign.  I quickly grew tired of these movies after the second film and found myself longing for the characters of the early film as the series progressed.  The Invisible Man’s Revenge was the final “official” Invisible Man, but the character did return for the popular Abbott and Costello film series entry Abbott and Costello meet the Invisible Man in 1951.

Related Links:

The Invisible Man (1933)

The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

The Invisible Woman (1940)

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)