Turning transparent isn’t the only result of Jack’s scientific experiment in James Whale’s mesmerizing THE INVISIBLE MAN!

It’s inevitable that complications would arise after chemically altering the fundamental fabric of one’s own body to turn invisible. For Dr. Jack Griffen, the main side-effects seem to be anger, hostility, and severe case sarcasm. Made only a couple of years after the breakout release of Frankenstein in 1931, The Invisible Man continues Whales’ directorial adaptation of literature’s misunderstood and marginalized characters onto the big screen. Whales’ treatment of these misanthropic characters is simultaneously heart-breaking and angering but, unlike our dear Frankenstein’s monster, Jack is a monster of his own making, a victim of his own greed for knowledge. Based on H.G. Wells’ science-fiction novella, the film serves (like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) as a cautionary tale of humans playing “god.”

Part of Nitehawk’s October SCIENCE! midnite and brunch series.