The Invisible Man (2020) Non-Spoiler Review: How To Make A Great Horror Remake Of A Classic

As Cecilia Kass escapes from an abusive relationship from a talented scientist named Adrian Griffen, she learns that her former lover has committed suicide and has left Cecilia with a part of his fortune. However, Cecilia believes that Adrian hasn't really died, rather that he has found a way to become invisible as an unseen force is trying to destroy her life. This remake of the H.G. Wells classic was supposed to be part of the Dark Universe franchise before Universal decided to focus on making stand-alone features rather than those interconnected with one another. What I love about this film are the changes to the narratives in the source material. The original film and novel had a more sci-fi/thriller approach as it mainly focuses on Adrian coming across a way to become invisible and how he slowly becomes a monster. The remake instead becomes a more horror-centric film and follows our protagonist as she gets tormented by the invisible entity. When it came to the story, I enjoyed about 95% of the narrative, twists and turns, despite some odd plot holes and moments. However, I personally didn't like the ending. I won't spoil what it is, but I felt that it not only left some questions up in the air, but it should have been a tad more depressing to make the character of Cecilia more complex or tragic.

Elisabeth Moss is fantastic as Cecilia, a woman who's spirit is broken and wits being put to the test as she confronts her traumas from her abusive boyfriend. Moss makes the audience on her side and makes you question if she is truly sane or not, thanks to some well-directed scenes that play with your mind. It helps that the film is always focused on her, which helps out with her performance in the long run. However, this does affect the antagonist, Adrian, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Not only does he not appear a lot throughout the film, but because the film focuses on Cecilia, we might not have a full understanding of her character. Because the film never shows the abusive relationship of Cecilia, it adds a clever lens that perhaps Cecilia can be wrong about Adrian's nature, especially towards the end of the film. However, it still doesn't give the character much depth compared to the original source material. Despite that, his invisible counterpart doesn't require any dialogue which almost makes the invisible man a type of monster-like character. The side characters include Detective James Lanier and his daughter, supportive friends of Cecilia who help add a bit of humour in an otherwise tense-filled film, Tom Griffin, Adrian's brother who acts as a financial lawyer for Cecilia, and Emily, Cecilia's sister who doesn't believe her sister's ramblings. The characters themselves are acted fine and designed to be likeable, but Moss's performance basically steals the entire film, which is not a bad thing at all.

Leigh Whannell directed this feature for a budget of $7 million, yet it looks very much like a slick, big-budget blockbuster. This is due to Whannell's fantastic directing that demonstrates his skills in the horror genre and as an eye-catching filmmaker as a whole. The most notable thing to mention are the scenes of suspense and horror, as they make the entire film stand out from above a typical horror film. The sequences have barely any music involved during the build-up to the horror, with sudden noises being much louder than normal. The cinematography and editing is great with many uses of wonderful iconography and one-take shots that follow our lead, while the editing either helps add on to the camerawork or help make special scenes work as well as they do. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch is mostly minimalistic, but when there is music involved, it really works on adding onto the haunting suspense. The effects are as great as they can be, considering the concept and low budget. Using strings and green screen are old tricks in the book, but they are so well-executed in this film mainly due to Whannell's directing of the sequences. I also like the use of violence and blood, as the majority of Blumhouse Productions stay PG-13 for the most part. The violence feels very real and grisly. Seeing people getting beat up by an invisible being is portrayed in a surreal, haunting, and realistic matter that it makes hard not to watch it again and again. I'm very much looking forward for future works of Whannell as this film shows the mastery of his art.

"The Invisible Man" is an extremely solid horror/thriller. Despite some odd plot holes, the lack of characterization of the antagonist, and the ending being underwhelming in my eyes, that doesn't change the overwhelming quality of the film. From the smart, modern changes to the source material, Moss's performance, extremely well-crafted sequences of suspense, slick editing and cinematography, effects that look great given the budget, a more violent picture that matches the gloomy tone, and Whannell's spectacular directing. It's a remake that stands on its own from the original and, despite the ending, joins the ranks of "Get Out" and "Us" as modern horror/thrillers that will be remembered in their respective decades.

Verdict: 8/10. Great film, even if horrors aren't your favourite genre. Watch if you either want scares and thrills or simply to witness some fantastic filmmaking and excellently crafted sequences.