The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review
Invisibility is the ability or property of a person or object of not being able to be seen. There have been quite a body of works dealing with various invisible men (and women). The progenitor of these, although not the first work dealing with invisibility, was H.G. Wells’ novel The Invisible Man (1897). This was filmed as Universal’s classic The Invisible Man (1933), which led to a series of sequels, and has been variously remade over the years.
In the Wells novel and some of the films, the Invisible Man is driven mad as a side-effect of the formula he takes and is portrayed as a villain. Later films make the invisible man a hero or government agent. Other works about invisibility are played as comedies or children’s films, even works of erotica. There are also several superheroes with the power of invisibility.
Usually the invisibility process is created by taking a formula. In fantasy, there are a number of occasions where invisibility is created by magic rings and cloaks, or is a property of some magical creatures.
One form of invisibility is the cloaking device employed in the various Star Trek series, while it is also a property of some aliens.
Way back before Peter Jackson, there was another whole era of Tolkien adaptations, including this animated adaptation of the third book, which is a peculiar oddity if nothing else
Rather entertaining film from The Asylum about the machine revolution that overspills with madcap technological invention
A serial adaptation of the popular radio superhero, which gets the look of the character perfect but drops all his mystical powers
The first of a two-part silent Fritz Lang film based on the Teutonic legend. Lang directs with an epic visual majesty that rivals today’s Lord of the Rings films
This has been conceived as the ultimate modern exploitation film featuring Nazi zombie piloting flying sharks. Think Iron Sky by way of Sharknado. The results are highly entertaining
There have been great films about unseen threats before (Cat People, The Haunting) but in this case the idea of an invisible monster is just the excuse for a cheap film to avoid any special effects. It has been a long time since I have seen a film so mind-numbingly boring and dull
Before the likes of Defendor, Kick-Ass and Super, there was this, one of the best comedies about superheroes with no powers. The film loves screwing with its audience and comes with a series of mind-bending flips between drug hallucination and subjective view of the superpowers in action
The animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse proved an unexpected success. This sequel builds on that ups the artistic quality of the original to something quite extraordinary
Film version of a popular series of children’s books that has a good deal of fun bringing to life a secret world of trolls and goblins
Third of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films has Jonathan Frakes back in the director’s seat where he again plays to his strengths with great visual effects scenes but the story feels like a filler episode
Alien invasion film made by industry outsiders from South Africa. The plot is like a much better version of I Am Number Four but played out on a much more ambitious scale where the novice filmmakers do sensational things in the visual effects department on a minuscule budget
A serial based on Chandu the Magician, a popular radio superhero who wielded magical and mystical powers. Featuring Bela Lugosi in the title role
Dull remake of the classic Arabian Nights film that casts Steve Reeves and tries to make it into a Hercules peplum adventure
Melissa McCarthy, along with Octavia Spencer as her best friend, is a comic screw-up who obtain superpowers
From the top wrestling superstar in the world in the early 00s to movie action hero to being dressed in a pink tutu with fairy wings, it is hard to believe that Dwayne Johnson’s box-office star would have ever recovered from this family film embarrassment that sees him cast as a fairy
Modestly effective effort about a man whose body is slowly fading away and becoming invisible. A film carried by some fine effects sequences, this derives its frisson from the gradual revelation of what is happening but loses it when the mundane subplots take over in the second half
Fine animated version of the DC Comics superheroine that gets the character just right and tells the story in a way that eclipses all previous filmed versions
Anthology of Brothers Grimm stories from George Pal where the brothers are wound in as characters. The film’s effectiveness is killed by Pal pitching everything down at a mawkish and simple-minded level
The much-anticipated sequel to the Gal Gadot starring Wonder Woman is a highly divided success, partly due to an inane plot centred around a magic wishing stone
Family-friendly superhero film that places more focus on slapstick than superheroics and contains an embarrassing return to the screen for Chevy Chase