THE INVISIBLE MAN is one of the best recent examples of horror/thriller cinema. More in the vein of Hitchcock, this is a remake produced by Jason Blum’s production company, Blumhouse Pictures, which I take as a sign of quality with a slight nod to Roger Corman. Most of their titles are low budget with an indie-feeling throughout, yet also meet the demands of the box office. THE INVISIBLE MAN was one of the last theatrical hits before the Coronavirus lockdown.
This is filmmaker Leigh Whannell’s followup to his outstanding UPGRADE. In that movie he played with sci-fi elements to a unique balance. It also benefits with a triumphant performance by its lead Elisabeth Moss (THE HANDMAID’S TALE, HER SMELL) as Cecelia, a woman who escapes a toxic relationship from a tech-savvy man who has a particular invisible suit that creates all sorts of havoc. The movie gets a lot of great mileage out of Moss’ intense performance and solidifies her as one of the best working actresses today. As always, the less I say about this the better as I want the viewer to discover a lot of the fun surprises.
About the 4k/Blu Ray:
I saw THE INVISIBLE MAN twice theatrically; once in IMAX and in an old school cinema on a giant wide-screen. The movie has such an interesting look to it and a great dramatic balance of light and dark throughout. It has brighter than usual sequences than other movies in this genre. Even on a smaller than usual studio budget, you can tell that the look and design of this was paramount. The movie was entirely shot in Australia however was set in San Francisco, so there were some certain challenges.
I mention this as it comes across very well in both the 4k and HD mastering and it’s a very representative look of how the movie is supposed to look, sometimes even bettering my theatrical experience.
On the audio front, while there is a high-end Dolby Atmos soundtrack, the movie’s mix feels really quiet and times when I felt it could be louder and more aggressive. That said, a later action sequence taking place in rain fully filled my screening room and felt very realistic. Not demo material by any means, and not as impressive as the picture quality, but it does the job.
What’s extra:
Typical with most Universal 4k and Blu Ray discs, there are some production featurettes featuring filmmaker and cast interviews. While some of these are your usual clips that are also found on YouTube, there is one following filmmaker Leigh Whannell that runs a bit longer and does have some very nice behind the scenes content including how some of the visual effects were achieved.
The highlight of the bonus features is the audio commentary by director Leigh Whannell. Having met Leigh at SxSW when he had UPGRADE, you are quick to learn that Leigh has a real sense of humour about everything and it comes across very quickly. He opens the commentary track by mentioning about people who talk during movies and would even shush his parents watching a movie when he was a kid, which is something that I can relate to. He then takes you through a fun . It’s a great listen and a nice
Overall:
While THE INVISIBLE MAN has been readily available online through VOD and streaming, this 4k/Blu Ray edition has a stunning visual image and soundtrack along with a commentary track that is worth the price alone. I know I will be listening to the fun commentary track again and giving the movie, which I am a big fan of, a rewatch soon.
THE INVISIBLE MAN is now available on 4k/Blu Ray along with a separate Blu Ray release. Also includes a digital code for use with Google Play. Thanks to Universal and ThinkJam PR for providing a copy for review.