With it being the Halloween season, which is a strange concept to me, I thought I might delve into some spooky movies. What you are less likely to see from me are modern horror films.  In case you have not already read of my distaste for them, know that I find them predictable and boring, and inappropriate in their content.  This last criticism pertains not only to their over-the-top gore, but also to their equally deplorable sexuality.  Thus, how is a square Catholic like myself to enjoy cinema that speaks to the spirit of these months (again, odd) without putting images in front of my eyeballs that I would rather not see?  The answer lies with early Hollywood.  If you pay any attention to their endeavors, you might have noticed in recent years that Universal has been doing a half-hearted reboot of their Classic Monsters series.  I say “half-hearted” because what they have released has not been successful, leading to a lot of canceled projects.  And while there has been a 2020 adaptation of today’s film, The Invisible Man (1933), the only resemblance they seem to bear is the title.

In what appears to be the snowiest day in the history of England, The Invisible Man enters the village of Iping.  He is Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains), and given that he is wrapped from head to toe in bandages and wearing a coat and hat, he does not match with the title at the moment.  He has come to this sparsely populated corner of the kingdom to take a room at the Lion’s Head Inn & Tavern, hoping to be left alone to conduct his experiments.  His hope is to reverse the condition that has turned him see-through, the result of years of obsessive work while in the employ of Dr. Cranley (Henry Travers).  Much of it had been done in secret, kept away even from Flora Cranley (Gloria Stuart), Dr. Cranley’s daughter and with whom Dr. Griffin is in love.  Yet, when he achieved this result, he ran away, much to the anxiety of the Cranleys.  More annoyed is Dr. Griffin’s colleague, Dr. Arthur Kemp (William Harrigan), who believes that Dr. Griffin had been up to no good.  Dr. Kemp is not wrong, and he is proven correct when he and Dr. Cranley make their way into Dr. Griffin’s labs and go through burned materials.  There they find the remnants of a drug called monocaine.  Dr. Cranley explains that in clinical tests, it drained all the pigment from the dogs to which it was administered.  Before killing them, it also made them go insane.  Dr. Cranley fears that it explains Dr. Griffin’s erratic behavior.  Back in Iping, the peace and quiet Dr. Griffin had been hoping for does not come.  This is because his odd appearance and behavior has attracted the attention of the curious denizens of the town, particularly those who frequent the Lion’s Head.  When he is rude to the establishment’s mistress, Jenny Hall (Una O’Connor), she sends her husband, Herbert Hall (Forrester Harvey), to serve notice that Dr. Griffin must leave.  The mad scientist does not comply, pushing poor Herbert down the stairs.  This results in the constable (E. E. Clive) being called, but he fares little better, particularly when Dr. Griffin undresses and unwraps, disappearing from sight.  He then leads the locals around in a lunatic scramble that eventually results in the death of the constable.  It also causes quite the stir, though few outside of the town are initially willing to believe these tales of an invisible person.  They are believed by Drs. Cranley and Kemp, who hear the reports on the radio and match it to their theories as to what had happened to their fellow researcher.  Dr. Kemp is given further knowledge when that night he is visited by Dr. Griffin.  The new fugitive desires a partner, believing his powers will give him the opportunity to rule the world.  It would seem that monocaine really does do a number on people.  When it looks as if Dr. Kemp is apprehensive, Dr. Griffin threatens his life, pointing out that there is no place one can hide from the eponymous person.  After they have gone to bed, though, Dr. Kemp sneaks downstairs and makes a couple of phone calls.  The first is to Dr. Cranley to inform the boss that Dr. Griffin is sleeping upstairs.  The second is to the police to essentially say the same thing.  Flora learns of this and comes with her father to attempt to talk some sense into her former lover.  Instead, she is met with more of the same crazy ravings he had spewed to Dr. Kemp.  Dr. Griffin then notices the police creeping towards the house and decides to make his escape, but not before vowing to kill Dr. Kemp by 10:00 pm the next day.  This oddly specific deadline is overheard by the police, who devise a plan to trap Dr. Griffin.  The problem is that Dr. Kemp is unwilling to be the necessary bait.  Thus, after a day of rampaging through the countryside, causing, among other heinous acts, a train derailment, Dr. Kemp is murdered anyway by Dr. Griffin.  Despite all this, Flora continues to have hope that Dr. Griffin will come to his senses.  It is the authorities who are not so naïve, and they finally track their target to a barn where he has gone to finally get some sleep.  Instead of trying anything elaborate, they force him out by setting fire to the structure.  When he does emerge, his footprints leave tracks in the snow, giving the cops a target at which to shoot.  Mortally wounded, he is taken to a hospital where, as he dies, he becomes visible once more in the arms of Flora.

One of the last things Dr. Griffin says in The Invisible Man is that he had been meddling in things in which man should never touch.  This is in contrast to how he had previously said that he had made himself into a god.  This is in reference to the power that he had given himself by becoming invisible.  His deathbed confession is just one of many parallels to faith that can be drawn from this film.  First, he is correct, not about being a god, but in delving into matters men should leave alone.  History and culture are full of examples of humans reaching for abilities or riches that can lift them above the rest of humanity.  Jesus achieved these things, but certainly not in the sense in which Dr. Griffin intends as he lays out his hare-brained schemes of world conquest.  You do not achieve exultation in the eyes of anyone by subjugating them, although it is a mistake that so many have repeated.  It has never worked, and yet there are currently those in the world who appear to think it will turn out differently for them.  Whether you believe Jesus is the Messiah (which He is), or think it is a fairytale (which it is not), His name is known throughout the world.  He accomplished this not by being some kind of supervillain, but through meekness.  In turn, the history of the Catholic Church is full of those who have emulated this example and gained recognition for their efforts by being saints.  That should be a goal for all of us.  It is not necessarily about receiving status in the Church, but to become holy and thus spend an eternity with God.

In this light, one could watch The Invisible Man as a cautionary tale.  What is also great for this viewer is that the horror elements are tame, especially by today’s standards.  While it can also appear cheesy to modern eyes, it is fun to see the early special effects employed to make it appear that Dr. Griffin is invisible.  In short, I would take this over any current horror flick.