THE NEW INVISIBLE MAN (1959) ** ½

This Mexican version of the H.G. Wells classic plays more like a remake of Universal’s The Invisible Man Returns (the Vincent Price one) than the original Claude Rains picture.  Carlos (Arturo de Cordova) is about to be married to Beatriz (Ana Luisa Peluffo) when he is framed for murder.  After he is arrested, Beatriz gets Luis (Augusto Benedico), Carlos’ scientist brother to create an invisibility formula.  Once invisible, Carlos escapes prison, eludes the police, and with the help of his fiancée, sets out to clear his name.  Naturally, the serum will eventually drive him insane, so his brother works frantically to find a cure.  Even after the men who framed him are properly dealt with, Carlos spirals into madness.  He even threatens to poison the city’s water supply if the citizens do not bow down before him and worship him like a god. 

The New Invisible Man is similar in a lot of ways to John Carpenter’s Memoirs of an Invisible Man.  There are brief moments of the Invisible Man having trouble adjusting to his invisible life that are reminiscent of that film.  (Since no one can see him, it makes it awkward to be in public places like crowded buses.)  Also, instead of the traditional bandages, this Invisible Man uses make-up in order to be seen by his fiancée, just like Chevy Chase.  This is a very cool scene as his face appears out of thin air a dab at a time (even if you can spot the seams). 

The rest of the Invisible Man effects are cheap but fun.  The big disappearing scene is nothing more than a dissolve of the actor’s face over some heavily starched clothing, which is good for a laugh.  The usual scenes of the Invisible Man smoking or carrying his luggage is done here again, with decidedly less panache than the Universal films.  The stuff with the scientist experimenting in the lab is pretty funny too as monkeys turn into skeletons and bunnies disappear before your very eyes.  There are also fun scenes of the Invisible Man stopping a pickpocket and beating up a thief.

While consistently amusing, The New Invisible Man never quite cuts loose.  It spends too much time retreading the old Universal movies when it should’ve been treading its own path.  The make-up sequence, and the finale where he finally goes batshit insane are memorable because they are as far away from the Claude Rains flick as you can get.  As a die-hard fan of Invisible Man movies, I have to say it was better than average, although the casual viewer will probably be left unimpressed.  

AKA:  The Invisible Man.  AKA:  The Invisible Man in Mexico.