Movie Review: FEAR THE INVISIBLE MAN

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: June 23rd, 2023 / 05:45 AM

FEAR THE INVISIBLE MAN movie poster | @2023 101 Films International

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Mhairi Calvey, Mike Beckingham, Wayne Gordon, Grahame Fox, Demelza O’Sullivan, David Hayman, Emily Haigh
Writer: Philip Daay, story by Monika Gergelova & Helena Gergelova, based on the novel by H.G. Wells
Director: Paul Dudbridge
Distributor: 101 Films International
Release Date: June 13, 2023 (Digital, VOD, DVD)

FEAR THE INVISIBLE MAN is the first adaptation of H.G. Wells’s novel in a good while to attempt fidelity to the source material.

Directed by Paul Dudbridge from a screenplay by Phillip Daay, from a story by Monika Gergelova & Helena Gergelova, FEAR THE INVISIBLE MAN starts with an itinerant man, Marvel (Grahame Fox), sleeping in a graveyard. He is awakened by a disembodied voice that promises him riches in exchange for aid. “But if you betray me, or disobey me …”

We then flash back slightly to youngish scientist Cade Griffin (Mike Beckingham), who manages to perfect his invisibility serum just in time to avoid his landlord.

We move on to the little town of Port Burdock, England (the setting of Wells’s novel) in 1897 (the year of the novel’s publication).

Marvel has unwisely taken not only Griffin’s money, but also his notebooks. When he stops in at Burdock’s main pub, Griffin finds him and beats him up. Griffin is invisible, but gets some flour on him; he also gets shot in the fracas. Wild rumors abound.

Lady Adeline Kemp (Mhairi Calvey) has been widowed for the past few years and is still grieving her loss. Her husband left her a huge mansion, but not a lot of cash. Adeline is involved in local politics, trying to get legislation to help the poor.

The wounded Griffin comes to Adeline for help. She is more prepared to believe him and sympathize with his predicament than we might expect. It seems that Adeline, her late husband, and Griffin were all at university together (as a woman, Adeline was allowed to attend class, but not obtain a degree). Indeed, Adeline and Griffin may have had a dalliance, before she decided that his impulsiveness and selfishness made him a poor prospect.

Still, Adeline is fascinated by Griffin’s experiments. She’s also grateful when he aids her financially, not questioning where the funds came from. Griffin wants Adeline to track down Marvel and retrieve the notebooks.

This is all more or less in keeping with Wells’s narrative, except that in the novel, Griffin’s old school connection is male rather than female. The change works well dramatically, upping the stakes.

Having Adeline’s willingness to give Griffin benefit of the doubt out of a mixture of romantic guilt and regret adds texture. Griffin’s enduring yearning for Adeline persuades us of why he keeps choosing to trust her rather than run.

The effects are very good, with action sequences coming off as suspenseful (rather than comedic, which could have easily been the case with an unseen assailant). Costume designer Robyn Manton has made shrewd calculations as to what the invisible Griffin can wear that suits the situation and the decade without looking absurd.

Calvey is sympathetic and strong, but gives Adeline a fluidity that makes her inner conflict credible. Beckingham has charm and certainty as Griffin. Fox is suitably unsavory as Marvel, and Wayne Gordon conveys decency and integrity as the town’s chief inspector. (FEAR THE INVISIBLE MAN has color-blind casting, which seems reasonable – if we’re going to accept that a Victorian-era scientist can make himself invisible, we can accept Black people in positions of authority.)

Director Dudbridge lets us take things seriously without lapsing into melodrama. We know in broad strokes where FEAR THE INVISIBLE MAN is going, but that doesn’t spoil our engagement with this modestly-budgeted yet well-made thriller.

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