Dark Corners Q&A: Universal’s Invisible Man—Horror’s Anti-Hero
From Dark Corner Reviews: The 1933 film The Invisible Man used groundbreaking effects to present the only anti-hero of the classic Universal monsters.
A member of Universal’s classic series of monsters, 1933’s The Invisible Man is based on H. G. Wells’ 1897 novel. The film involves a scientist who, following his successful experiment that makes him invisible, goes insane and begins to terrorize people. The film’s success led to several sequels (which were oddly not related to the original film) and a 2020 remake.
In the video below, Robin Bailes of Dark Corners Reviews talks through the original film series. Below the video, we also have an interview with Bailes.
Universal’s Invisible Man - Horror’s Anti-Hero // DC Classics
Monster Complex Interview with Dark Corners Reviews’ Robin Bailes
1) What inspired you to take this deep dive into the Invisible Man—both the original film and the subsequent movies?
We’ve been working our way through the Universal and Hammer horror franchises, releasing retrospectives at a rate of about one a year, so we were always going to get to The Invisible Man, and with the new remake coming out this seemed the obvious time.
2) Your movie reviews of lovably terrible SF and monster movies are hilarious—but the Invisible Man retrospective is a straight critical assessment. Which of these approaches is more “true” to the Dark Corners brand?
Well, the Dark Corners tagline is The Best and Worst of Genre Cinema, so both fall into our remit. We started with the bad movie reviews, that was how we built an audience, but I think the retrospectives are closer to our hearts and are what we're proudest of.
3) You also have a series of novels that are inspired by the classic Universal Monsters. What is it about these classic icons that so resonate with you?
It may be just that I was introduced to them when I was a kid. My Grandpa was a classic horror buff and it was partly through his books that I learnt about these films. My Mum is a classic film fan as well—so the images are all there in my head. They have an atmosphere that really appeals to me, and which I don’t think you find in much modern horror.
I also like the fact that the best of them are tinged with tragedy. For whatever reason, the tragic monster does appeal to me and I find makes for a better story.
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