Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed! (2000) (V)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

David J. Skal

Writer:

David J. Skal (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot Keywords:

Film Making

Cast

Rudy Behlmer	...	Himself - Host
Bill Condon	...	Himself
Curtis Harrington	...	Himself
Paul M. Jensen	...	Himself
Brandon Kleyla	...	Young James Whale (archive footage)
Ian McKellen	...	Himself
Jessica Rains	...	Herself
David J. Skal	...	Himself

Runtime:

35 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Company:

Universal Studios Home Video

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on both the Classic Monster Collection and Monster Legacy Collection DVDs for The Invisible Man (1933).

Movie Connections:

Features Gods and Monsters (1998)

Adequate Documentary That Leaves You Wanting to See More

As a monster kid from way back, I enjoy much of the attention and adulation that these movies have garnered over the years. But what has always been a pet peeve is that some of the "lesser" films like The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, etc...never get the same kind of pomp as Dracula and Frankenstein. I can understand why, but films like these have had just as much a powerful if not indeed more subtle influence. Well, here David Skaal, making documentaries for the big Universal horror films for DVD release around 2000, does his tribute for James Whale's revolutionary science fiction film - a film that had breakthrough technology at the time, used the Whale style to perfection, and made Claude Rains into a star. It had four sequels - granted only the second one near the quality of this, but all were fun. It had countless imitations as recent as the horrible Hollow Man and its sequel. This documentary chronicles the production of the film fusing anecdotal history with facts. We get interviews with some second-hand observers like Jessica Rains(telling a wonderful story about how her father took her to see this film for the first time as a child, Curtis Harrington(who had met and knew James Whale), and some film historians. There are plentiful scenes too. The documentary runs 35 minutes and though I found their analysis of the first film quite good, the rest of the sequels are lucky enough to get a mention. I would have liked to have seen some more on them as they are the films least known. Skaal does a great job with these documentaries as evidenced by the wonderful ones completed for Dracula, Frankenstein, and even The Mummy, but this one falls a little short on their scale. It definitely left me wanting to see more.