In one of the most joyous cases of cinematic irony this decade, alotof people are seeingThe Invisible Man. FilmmakerLeigh Whannell’s reimagining of the 1933 Universal horror classic nabbed a mighty healthy $50 million in its first week—on a $7 million budget no less—and for good reason. Whannell brilliantly updated the story of a monstrous man turned transparent (in this case,Oliver Jackson-Cohen) into the story of a domestic abuse survivor, played in a jaw-droppingly powerful performance byElisabeth Moss. It’sgreat. It’sreally great. And if you haven’t caught it yet, correct that mistake posthaste.
If youhaveseen it already, then you’re probably itching for more. Below, we’ve rounded up the seven best movies to seek out after watchingThe Invisible Man.
It’s kind of crazy how long it took for Leigh Whannell to become such anamein Hollywood, considering the dude co-created the massively successfulSawfranchise and was behind all fourInsidiousmovies. (In which he also played Specs. Long live Specs.) But truthfully, we didn’t get a sense of just how dynamic Whannell is as an all-around filmmaker untilUpgrade, his first writer/director outing on a completely original idea. Not to put too fine a point on it, butUpgradewhips an incredible amount of ass. Logan Marshall-Green stars as Grey Trace, a mechanic living in a near-future society who is implanted with a piece of tech (voiced bySimon Maiden) that controls his limbs after an incident leaves him paralyzed.Upgrade’s highly-stylized fight scenes—which are also often darkly funny, thanks to Marshall-Green’s along-for-the-ride performance—utilize the same rigid, stabilized camerawork Whannell put to use inThe Invisible Man, but here they serve another unique purpose. Every fight feels perfectly robotic and machine-controlled, and like Grey we’re just being pulled along for the ride. If that effect becomes Whannell’s signature—likeSam Raimi’s POVwhooshor the synths of John Carpenter—he first put it to perfection inUpgrade.
We’ll definitely be discussing Elisabeth Moss’s full-bodied and bloodily-committed performance inThe Invisible Manonce Oscar season rolls around. (And the Academy inevitably, once again, decides a performance doesn’t count if it’s too spooky.) But that’s nothing new for Moss, who arguably put on the best performance of 2019 in Her Smell, written and directed byAlex Ross Perry. Moss is straight-upferociousas Becky Something, the whirlwind at the front of punk-rock quartet Something. It’s an unforgettable performance that, because Moss plays Something at both the bottom of a spiral and on the other end of sobriety, is filled with endless layers. Coupled with The Invisible Man (and her run onThe Handmaid’s Tale),Her Smellcemented Moss as a performer who makes a movie must-see with her name on the bill alone.
Thematically, the classic horror filmThe Invisible Manreminded me of the most isCandyman, directorBernard Rose’sClive Barkeradaptation that turnedTony Toddinto an icon. Like Moss’s Cecilia Kass, the woman at the center of Candyman, Virginia Madsen’s grad student Helen Lyle, is haunted by a specter infatuated with making her his belonging. (Candyman’s “be my victim” is pretty much the call of the domestic abuser.) And like Cecilia, Helen’s situation spirals into paranoia and public exile as everyone around her refuses to believe what she’s seeing. Still scary, still important, and still one heck of a horror ride, catching up onCandymancomes with the added bonus of the remake, debuting this June.
Peeping Tom
There’s no better way to describe the way Whannell wields his camera inThe Invisible Manthan “voyeuristic.” A lot of the film’s terror comes from being watched; some of the scariest scenes are in the film’s first half, the lens just lingering around corners or through doorways as Cecilia lives her everyday life. If that kind of slow-build dread is your bag, we have to recommendMichael Powell’s chilling 1960 film,Peeping Tom. Carl Boehm stars as Mark Lewis, a serial killer obsessed with capturing his victims' expressions in their final moments. There aren’t many movies that use the camera as disturbingly as Peeping Tom, which turns the audience into voyeurs even as it explores what it means to watch violence. Not for the faint of heart.
When a Stranger Calls
Even if you know The Twist—it’s become etched in pop culture stone by now, but no spoilers here just in case—the opening scene ofWhen a Stranger Callsis the stuff the most hair-raising horror in history is made of. (It directly inspiredWes Craven’sScream, which is another movie you should seek out immediately if you’ve gone all this time without it.) The sense of not being safe in your own home—oranyhome, no matter how many locks you put in place—that runs throughThe Invisible Manis a byproduct ofWhen a Stranger Calls.Carol Kanestars as Jill Johnson, a high schooler whose night of babysitting turns into a sadistic game with a psychotic killer (Tony Beckley). A film guaranteed to make ya' double-check the locks.
The Invisible Man (1933)
I mean, duh, right? But the original tale of a mad scientist’s quest for transparency—based on theH.G. Wellsstory—is still a must-see for sci-fi/horror lovers that holds upremarkablywell in 2020. The very idea of an “invisible man” can so easily go off the tracks into pure schlock, but the special effects dreamed up byJohn P. Fulton,John J. MescallandFrank D. Williamswork on a level that’s still impressive. In his American film debut, Tony-winnerClaude Rainsmakes an operatic meal out of the title role—mostly through voice-over, understandably—creating a character that deserves his place alongside Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Gill-Man in the all-time horror pantheon. Cheesy as hell? Occasionally! But a classic for a reason, one that’s perfect for a late-night binge with fellow horror-heads.
Side-note: The sequel,The Invisible Man ReturnsstarringVincent Price? Not bad!
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
IsMemoirs of an Invisible Mana “good film”? That really depends on who you ask. I genuinely cannot help but enjoy this weird thing, but it was overwhelmingly panned when it debuted in 1992. Either way, this odd gem is a fascinating failure to check off your list if you’re a film completist; worst case, you’ll probably win a trivia night one day if you know it was directed byJohn Carpenter.MemoirsstarsChevy Chaseas Nick Holloway, a stock analyst who is turned invisible during a hungover incident at a laboratory. Now a living science experiment, Nick must avoid capture from government operative David Jenkins (Sam Neill) with the help of documentary producer Alice Monroe (Daryl Hannah).
