The Invisible Man (1933)

So last night I watched this classic Universal horror thriller. Interestingly, the dvd was rated '12' which suggests the BBFC thinks the film still has the power to shock.

There tend to be two types of classic Universal horror pictures (and I suppose classics in general). Those that have dated well (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) and those that haven't (Dracula). Thankfully, The Invisible Man is in the former category and none of the subsequent variations on the story have dulled the appeal of the original.

The film is dripping with atmosphere, superbly directed by Brit James Whale who had made such an impression two years earlier with Frankenstein. Famed for his use of large sets (which occasionally look a little sparse here), Whale was a master at creating tension from an atmosphere of foreboding. The film grips you from the snowswept opening and doesn't let go for the whole of its brisk 73 minute running time.

The film is set in England and of course, this is Hollywood's England, complete with a not-quite-right dartboard in the pub named "The Lion's Head" (a pun on the Red Lion and the King's Head?). Whale had a great flair for casting minor roles and populates the film with a host of wonderful characters that firmly establish the location and make this the funniest horror movie you'll ever see. From the innkeeper's declaration that "he's all eaten away" to the baffled policeman who asks "what's all this then?", the film is peppered with great actors in small roles making the most of writer RC Sheriff's wonderful dialogue.

Claude Rains stars as the invisible one of the title, covered in bandages following a scientific experiment gone wrong. Having only his voice to register his performance, Rains is mesmirising in his film debut, managing to imbue even the simplest line with a real sense of menace. The combination of Rains' gravelly tones and the endlessly quotable dialogue leads to one great scene after another ("An invisible man can rule the world. No one will see him come, no one will see him go. He can rob and rape and kill!").

In support, William Harrigan is excellent as Dr Kemp, a colleague of Dr Griffin (aka The Invisible Man) who is terrified by the change to his former friend. Gloria Stuart (as the daughter of another colleague) gives one of those mannered thirties film performances that looks very dated now, supplying the requisite romantic angle that is one of the few deviations from H.G. Wells' original novel.

The effects work is excellent for a film of this age and although some of the invisibility gags are fairly obvious (doors closing, objects moving, a bicycle riding off by itself), others remain impressive to this day. The Invisible Man's first removal of his bandages is still a powerful moment and the sight of his shirt running around the room is one of the most memorable in the film.

For all its dramatic effects-driven action, it is the quieter moments that stay with you. None more so than when Rains is gently moving back and forth on a rocking chair, contemplating how he can make the most of his new power ("We'll begin with a reign of terror. A few murders here and there. Murders of big men, murders of little men. Just to show we make no distinction").

On the negative side, Una O'Connor's screeching performance as the wife of the innkeeper has its fans but most people will find it irritating in the extreme. And if the film seems to lose a little focus whenever Gloria Stuart and Henry Travers (as her father) appear, this is easily forgivable.

Both funny and thrilling by turns, this is a genuinely great film and one of the classics of cinema that can be enjoyed by modern audiences just as much as it was when it was originally released almost 80 years ago.

HoganMonkey rates The Invisible Man 9 out of 10 on the banana scale.

Lakeview Terrace (2008)

So last night I watched this thriller which stars the great Samuel L Jackson as an LA cop who is far from happy when an inter-racial couple (white male, black female) move into the house next door. Abel (Jackson) clearly values his community and the safety of the street in which he lives as he goes on late night patrols of the neighbourhood. He is like a malevolent version of the Richard Briers character in the eighties BBC sitcom "Ever Decreasing Circles".

Initially Abel just makes offhand comments to new neighbour Chris (Partick Wilson). "We have a lot in common" says Chris. "yeah, like what?" retorts Abel in an accusing tone. A disagreement over Abel's night-time security light shining into the couple's bedroom window becomes the catalyst for the arguments to become more vociferous. Abel's refusal to move the light inevitably leads to Chris installing his own light to shine into Abel's room. "Great John, very mature" (Die Hard 1988) .

Chris' wife Lisa (Kerry Washington in a rather thankless role) expects her husband to pacify Abel but Chris is the weak modern male character (as seen previously played by Matthew Modine in "Pacific Heights") which leads to disagreements between them as the conflict escalates.

Director LaBute (trying to make amends for his woeful remake of "The Wicker Man" two years earlier) patterns an always intriguing but fairly derivative thriller here. Nothing especially surprising occurs but the film is solid and engrossing, anchored by the ever reliable Jackson who once again shows that he can give a great performance with only good material.

Although Abel's comments are deliberately antagonistic, his remark that Chris can listen to all the rap music he wants "but when you wake up in the morning, you'll still be white" should be taken on board by all the white kids you see on the streets wanting to be black. When we later learn of the reasons behind Abel's bigotry, it serves a story purpose but doesn't work in terms of trying to humanise him. A less clearcut delineation between the good couple next door and the bad Abel would have made the film more interesting and set it apart from others of its type.

In truth, Jonathan Kaplan's 1992 film "Unlawful Entry" was a better example of this kind of thriller, benefitting from stronger performances from Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe as the couple under threat from unhinged cop Ray Liotta. And after all, no-one does psycho like Ray.

Although you could say that the story could take place anywhere, it would seem that the idea of people taking offence from an inter-racial couple is much more at home in a film set in LA than it would be in London, for example. Are we just more tolerant over here?

America, land of the free...

HoganMonkey gives "Lakeview Terrace" six out of ten on the banana scale.

First Knight (1995)

So last night I watched First Knight which for some reason I remembered as being an ok film from when I originally saw it. How wrong I was.

Time has not been kind to this one. The whole movie is presented like a complete fairytale and as such cannot be recommended to anyone but the most undemanding of teenage girls.
Julia Ormond is Guinevere who is on her way to be betrothed to King Arthur when she is ambushed by the evil Sir Malagant. To the rescue comes Lancelot who she dislikes at first but later she begins to ......... zzzzzzz

We've seen all this before and done better than it is here. Excalibur (1981) and King Arthur (1995) are the first ones that spring to mind. There's nothing wrong with the fairytale approach per se but it rarely works outside of animation and the settings here are completely unconvincing. This must be the cleanest representation of medieval times you are ever likely to see. The castle has a shine to it that makes the castle in the Walt Disney logo look like it needs a new coat of paint.

In truth, Julia Ormond (whatever happened to her?) isn't bad as Guinevere and neither is Sean Connery as King Arthur (though you get the feeling he knows all this is beneath him). Sadly, Richard Gere is hopelessly miscast as Lancelot. His mannerisms and approach are so incongruous that you wonder how far down the list they got before they offered the part to him. The role is crying out for director Jerry Zucker to have taken a chance on a young actor of the day.

Zucker got the gig on the back of his box office success with "Ghost" (another film that has not dated well). He keeps the film moving at a fair pace but at the expense of any kind of depth or genuine interest. No wonder he didn't direct another film until 2001 (the even worse "Rat Race").

There are a few highlights dotted around, notably a scene in which Lancelot is challenged to navigate an obstacle course. The best moment, though, was realising it was Chris Finch from The Office (aka Ralph Ineson) as the bad guy's chief henchman.

So we have Ormond finding herself drawn to Gere (old enough to be her father) when she is supposed to be marrying Connery (old enough to be her grandfather). The whole thing is, to be honest, slightly uncomfortable and ultimately forgettable.

HoganMonkey rates First Knight five out of ten on the banana scale.

The Sentinel (2006)

So yesterday I watched this ho-hum political thriller. It got off to a good start with the Twentieth Century Fox logo (surely the best of all the studio logos?) but it was all downhill from there.

The film centres around a conspiracy to kill the President. What do you mean the President of what? The President of the Three Stooges Fan Club, what do you think?! (Splash 1984)

In terms of quality it was somewhere between Clint Eastwood's excellent "In The Line of Fire" and Wesley Snipes dreary "Murder at 1600". Michael Douglas took the lead as a secret service agent who finds himself accused of plotting the assassination. To be honest, he looked too old to be in the secret service and had more make-up on than Kim Basinger who played the President's Wife.

David "Sledgehammer" Rasche was the President and didn't exactly lend gravitas to the role in the way that, say, Morgan Freeman did. I kept expecting him to say "Trust me, I know what I'm doing".

Elsewhere, Kiefer Sutherland took a break from 24 to play exactly the same character here. Eva Longoria was his new rookie agent, criticised by Sutherland for her choice of wardrobe. I think he was concerned that her fellow agents would be distracted during a raid as they checked out the curves of her cleavage rather than the corners of the room.

The plot focussed so much on the agent character played by Douglas that the villains were completely marginalised. Consequently, there was no real sense of threat. It was also lacking the kind of conspiracy that you'd expect from this kind of film. I was hoping for Basinger to be involved somehow but no. Everything was wrapped up far too conveniently and you were left wondering what the point of it all was.

Douglas' character made it through to the end and all was forgiven, whereby he promptly retired. No doubt he will end up in Fort Lauderdale, wandering round shopping malls looking for the ultimate soft yoghurt and muttering "how comes the kids don't call?" (City Slickers 1991)

HoganMonkey gives The Sentinel a five out of ten on the banana scale