[3]
Universal’s Invisible Man franchise takes its steepest drop in entertainment value with the fourth film in the series, The Invisible Man’s Revenge. Jon Hall, who also starred in The Invisible Agent, plays a different character with no connection to previous films. He’s a convict who has recently escaped an asylum, in search of business partners who owe him money (Lester Matthews and Gale Sondergaard). After they poison him and send him on his merry way, he stumbles into the laboratory of a scientist (John Carradine) who has created an invisibility serum. So, naturally, Hall’s character takes the shot and uses his newfound ability to terrorize his old business partners and play pranks on the townsfolk.
Everything about The Invisible Man’s Revenge is tired and dull. It’s all been done in previous Invisible Man films, and none of the characters here are likable or charismatic enough to compensate for it. Production values are relatively high and the special effects are more convincing than ever, but the screenplay is all over the place, with too many characters and too many subplots — including a love triangle — to pull itself into anything coherent or compelling. The best part of the movie John Carradine’s character’s dog, who holds a grudge against Hall after he murders Carradine and burns down his home. The dog escapes and haunts Hall through the last act of the movie. In the end, the dog gets its revenge in a climactic showdown with the Invisible Man.
Bad movie. Good dog.
With Evelyn Ankers, Alan Curtis, and Leon Errol. Directed by Ford Beebe.