Many reviewers say the film's special effects look "dated". Well, DUH! What do you expect?? The movie is almost 80 freakin' years old, people! And you know what? Like all of the Whale films, it holds up better than 99% of the films made back then. Believe it or not folks, just because a movie is in black and white and doesn't have blood/gore does not automatically make it boring or bad. For example: there was a great, unbelievably frightening little film made in the early '60's called The Haunting. It was a b/w haunted house drama with Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn and Richard Johnson, and it relied on atmosphere, suspense, and psychological horror. They remade the movie in about 2000, thinking that they could really work wonders with today's state-of-the-art special effects and technical wizardry. The result was an awful and overblown mess of a movie which no one cared about.
But hey--I'm not revewing The Haunting, am I? My point is that a great film can be made using old equipment and methods, as long as the director and photographer really know their stuff. And that there is a real danger in assuming that more money, bigger names and modern equipment will automatically yield a better product.
This movie is still fabulously entertaining. Like all of Whale's work, it contains moments of laugh-out-loud humor, tender emotions, tragedy and horror. It's beautifully photographed, and the lighting is wonderfully artful (black and white at its best). We can't see Rains, but at least we can hear that splendid voice. We get to see Gloria Stuart, an incredibly beautiful young thing in the early '30's, who also appeared in another Whale masterpiece, The Old Dark House.
One of my all-time favorites.

A maverick researcher (Claude Rains) uses an invisibility drug on himself, then goes into hiding while attempting to develop an antidote. Unbeknownst to himself, the drug also induces megalomania, and before long he will become the terror of the English countryside.

Although it may have been a severe miscalculation for Jack Griffin to subject himself to the drug before he had a countermeasure, there are no miscalculations on the part of director James Whale, who is responsible for some of the very best vintage Universal horror pictures. The special effects are surprisingly good for the era and present no bar to enjoyment. The script, though it departs significantly from the H.G. Wells source material, is intelligent. No review of this film is complete without praise for Rains, who appears only at the very end and only for a moment, but whose superb vocal performance and physical expression, while hidden under bandages, presents a fully realized character.

This is a classic film. Bear in mind while watching it that this was done in 1933 and the effects are amazing for it's time. If you have read HG Well's book, upon which the movie was based, you will not be disappointed. While it is not a verbatum screen play, this movie is true to the spirit of the story and does follow the book closely. The additional features are nice too.

Although this film deviates somewhat from H.G. Welles novella this is an excellent adaptation that is still entertaining seventy years after its first release. The setting of England in winter is well conveyed though we know that in all probability the film was made on a Southern California sound stage. The special effects are amazing for 1933 and one can only imagine the marvel it was for 1930's film goers to see the invisible man's antics which at first are playful but evolve into murder. Much of the acting may seem melodramatic or "stagy" to modern viewers but if taken in the historical context it does not detract from the enjoyment of the film. My one quibble is the romance between "Jack" (the invisible "one") played by Claude Rains and "Flora" played by Gloria Stuart seems forced, unnecessary and unlikely.

The Invisible man is one of those old movies that gets lost in the crowd. This picture is one of Universal's best. The Invisible Man Legacy collection includes this film with the 2 sequels, plus two unrelated films about invisibilty. 'The Invisible Man' film is the only film from Universal's Invisiblity catalog that is available on a single DVD by itself but, it's well worth picking up the Legacy set to get all 5 films! Rains and Co. are great in this science fiction tale. Like most Universal horror films, this film has tons of atmosphere and some really creepy images and sets. One in paticular is a close up of Rains wearing bandages and goggles that is just fantastic! The sequels are very good and this set should be in every horror film buffs collection. The DVD transfer on both releases are really good!