The Invisible Man (2020) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Leigh Whannell

Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid

Release Date: May 26, 2020

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

THE INVISIBLE MAN follows a modern tale of obsession inspired by Universal’s classic monster character. Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) slowly begins to rebuild her life after the death of her abusive ex-boyfriend (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). But before long, she begins to question whether or not he is truly gone. In addition to the feature, THE INVISIBLE MAN delivers up twenty minutes of exclusive bonus content, including a chance to better get acquainted with the film’s leading actress: Elisabeth Moss, feature commentary with the writer/director and deleted scenes you won’t want to miss.

This new, modern take on ‘The Invisible Man’ accompanies a woman named Cecilia (Moss) who we join as she enacts her elaborate plan to leave her abusive boyfriend. Successfully getting away and now hiding at her friend’s home tucked away and terrified, she soon discovers that her dreaded ex has not only apparently committed suicide, but also left her a hefty inheritance. Initially accepting things at face value, Cecilia soon starts to slip into paranoia when eerie instances continue to build up, eventually leading her to believe that the man she feared has managed to fake his own death in addition to finding a way to become invisible in order to better torture her. Determined that she’s not losing her mind or mistaken, Cecilia must now figure out how to accomplish the seemingly impossible; find a way to prove it.

Directed by noteworthy filmmaker Leigh Whannell (Upgrade, Insidious: Chapter 3) from his own screenplay, Whannell does a phenomenal job at the helm of ‘The Invisible Man’ guiding things along with a perfect balance of terror and uncertainty while carefully building the tense aura along its course. The film also owes plenty of credit to the capable individuals who comprise the cast including Elisabeth Moss (The Kitchen), Aldis Hodge (TV’s City on a Hill), Storm Reid (A Wrinkle in Time), Harriet Dyer (TV’s No Activity), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (TV’s The Haunting of Hill House), Michael Dorman (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and more, nearly all offering solid performances overall in each of their respective roles, and Moss in particular is nothing short of spectacular, delivering a tense and powerful performance in the lead that really helps to make this one work as smoothly as it does.

‘The Invisible Man’ is a creepy, powerful and masterfully crafted tale of paranoia, fear and the unknown that delivers magnificently on all fronts. Borrowing the general concept and ideas from the classic Universal movie monster and cleverly crafting a new, modern take on the tale that offers an update fitting of our modern world, while still staying true to the general concept and realm of the original. Leigh Whannell’s career is one I’ve followed quite closely since his days of working with regular partner James Wan, penning scripts for the likes of ‘Saw’, ‘Dead Silence’ and ‘Insidious’ while Wan helmed. Since taking the leap to writer and director on recent offerings, Whannell has only proved to be even more capable, and a true force to be reckoned with; ‘The Invisible Man’ proving a worthy follow-up to his remarkable last film ‘Upgrade’ (you can read my review of ‘Upgrade’ HERE), with leading lady Elisabeth Moss delivering an exceptional performance here that really allows the audience to feel her pain and turmoil along the course of her terrifying journey. I can’t urge horror fans and those who appreciate quality cinema strongly enough to make a point of checking out ‘The Invisible Man’ at your earliest convenience. It’s a tense, emotional and thoroughly impressive film that balances the terror, heart and unpleasant atmosphere perfectly. I definitely wouldn’t suggest overlooking this outstanding film, and horror fans along with fans of Leigh Whannell’s career won’t even want to consider skipping this gem.

Overall, Leigh Whannell’s modern take on ‘The Invisible Man’ is quite magnificent; an intense and beautifully crafted tale of terror and uncertainty that never loses its way. Everything is carefully guided along by Whannell with a fittingly uneasy tone that continually builds the tension throughout, combined with a riveting and altogether impressive performance by Moss in the lead that all allows this new take on the classic movie monster to become something truly special, and very much its own unique monster in the process. ‘The Invisible Man’ easily earns one of my highest recommendations. For fans of horror/suspense and/or of filmmaker Leigh Whannell’s work, as well as those simply intrigued by this film in particular, it shouldn’t have any trouble proving well worth your time and the price of a rental at the very least.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Invisible Man’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks magnificent as a whole and provides a sharp, detailed and nicely balanced video presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any noticeable faults or troubles along the way. It holds up remarkably well even during the numerous notably dark sequences of which there are quite a few, never once allowing anything occurring onscreen to become negatively affected, let alone rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a wonderful high definition video presentation from Universal that should easily thrill fans of the film while also thoroughly satisfying first time viewers.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack offers a sharp, clean and at times fairly aggressive audio presentation throughout. It frequently embraces all seven available channels in order to accentuate the unpleasant aura along the way, sending the score along with creepy and random noises and more throughout the various speakers whenever fitting and never conflicting with any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a great Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that delivers admirably in every way necessary and never disappoints along the way.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Invisible Man’ includes a number of solid bonus features that fans of the film should enjoy. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Leigh Whannell’, in addition to a collection of ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the movie (running approximately 13 minutes in length) and some Behind the Scenes Featurettes that include interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are: ‘Moss Manifested’ (running approximately 4 minutes), ‘Director’s Journey with Leigh Whannell’ (approximately 11 minutes), ‘The Players’ (5 minutes) and ‘Timeless Terror’ (3 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

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Leigh Whannell’s ‘The Invisible Man’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Blumhouse & Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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