Discover the Horror Podcast: Episode 55 – Universal’s The Invisible Man

November 1, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged Boris Karloff, Claude Rains, James Whale, John Carradine, Jon Hall, The Invisible Man, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Man's Revenge, Universal Classic Monsters, Universal Monsters, Vincent Price | Leave a comment

The Invisible Man (1933), The Invisible Man Returns (1940), and The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944).

In the pantheon of Universal Classic Monsters, some might say the Invisible Man is the least terrifying in the monster heritage, or maybe even bordering on if they even belong in the horror genre. In this episode, we’re going to delve into three of the films in Universal’s Invisible series, for the most part, stay within the horror genre, though, that argument will be addressed as well! We’re leaving out The Invisible Woman and Invisible Agent, since they are pretty much either a comedy or a war time action film.

Join us as we try to “see” more into these films that maybe aren’t as “transparent” to the casual viewer who might have missed something. Or maybe we’re seeing too much and not finding them too entertaining. Want to know? You’ll have to listen and find out!

Movies mentioned in this episode:

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David McCallum – Rest in Peace

September 26, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged David McCallum, Frankenstein: The True Story, Night Gallery, She Waits, The Invisible Man, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Outer Limits, The Watcher in the Woods | Leave a comment

We read the news last night that we had lost another icon, not only film, but especially television, the great David McCallum. Probably best known for two roles on a TV series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. from 1964 to 1968, and over 3 decades later, appearing in the hit TV show NCIS (2003-2023) for 2 decades! But to us horror fans, while he may not have appeared in a ton of shows, he was there. He appeared in a couple of episodes of The Outer Limits, on episode of Night Gallery, the made-for-TV movie She Waits (1972), the title character in the TV series The Invisible Man (1975-76), and Disney’s creepy film The Watcher in the Woods (1980).

But for me, he will always be remembered as Dr. Henry Clerval in the 1973 made-for-TV movie Frankenstein: The True Story. While it is far from the “true story”, it is childhood favorite that remains a favorite to this day.

McCallum passed away on Monday at the age of 90 from natural causes. Because of his work in TV and films, and the huge fan base his work has created, his memory will continue on to entertain and delight audiences to come. Thank you, Mr. McCallum for your hard work and dedication to your craft. Gone, but not forgotten. Our thoughts go out to you and your family during this difficult time.

Fun at the Skyline Drive-In

August 29, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged 30 Days of Night, Child's Play, Dead Snow, Dracula vs Frankenstein, Dusk to Dawn Horrorfest, Frankenhooker, Horrors of Spider Island, John Carpenter, Midway Drive-In, Night of the Demon, Return of the Living Dead, Severin Films, Severin Sleepover, Skyline Drive-in, Slumber Party Massacre, The Crawling Eye, The Five Days, The Invisible Man, The Skyline Drive-In, The Thing, Vampyros Lesbos, Zandor Vorkov | Leave a comment

This last Saturday, we ventured back to the Indianapolis area, twice in the last two weeks, for this year’s Super Monster Movie Fest at the Skyline Drive-In in Shelbyville, IN. Normally, we are there for both nights of fun, but due to some work issues, we couldn’t make it for the Friday night screenings, but did come out for Saturday. We got to see The Invisible Man (1933), John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), 30 Days of Night (2007), Dead Snow (2009), and The Crawling Eye (1958).

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Skyline Drive-In’s Super Monster Movie Fest

April 18, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Drive-in Theaters, Krampus, The Invisible Man, The Skyline Drive-In, The Thing, The Thing from Another World | Leave a comment

The Skyline Drive-in has announced the first 4 titles for this year’s Super Monster Movie Fest, taking place on August 25th & 26th. The theme this year is Frozen Frights, so the films will be taking place either during the winter, or something to do with the cold!

On Friday, they will be screening Krampus (2015) and the original The Thing from Another World (1951), and on Saturday, they will be screening the original The Invisible Man (1933) and John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982).

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Book Review: Claude Rains: An Actor’s Voice

February 18, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged Claude Rains, Claude Rains An Actor's Life, David J. Skal, Jessica Rains, Phantom of the Opera, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, University Press of Kentucky | Leave a comment

Claude Rains: An Actor’s Voice
Published by University Press of Kentucky, 2008. 290 pages.
By David J. Skal with Jessica Rains

Like most horror fans, I knew the name of Claude Rains because of his starring role in The Invisible Man (1933), as well his performances in The Wolf Man (1941), and Phantom of the Opera (1943). Eventually I would learn of his other pictures and that he had come from the world of the stage, starting out at a very young age, and even battling a speech impediment and strong cockney accent. I even wrote a retrospective on The Invisible Man for HorrorHound magazine, doing quite a bit of research, and thinking I had a good insight into the actor himself. But like most things in life, there is always room to learn more. And after reading Skal’s book, I realized how much more.

There are several biographies currently in publication on Rains that I had planned on adding to my library, but it was Skal’s book that I acquired first. While looking for the next book to read, this was still sitting off to the side, not yet put away in the bookshelf, I picked it up and started to read the introduction. The next thing I knew, I was already 50 pages deep into this wonderful story. I think that is where Skal excels here, in telling a very compelling story filling it in with bits of information here and there.

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Universal Classic Horrors at the Strand Theatre

January 22, 2023 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Frankenstein, Fright Night Frights, Old Dark House, Strand Theatre, The Black Cat, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Strand Theatre, Universal Horrors, Universal Monsters | 1 Comment

The Strand Theatre in Shelbyville, IN, has announced this year’s Friday Night Frights schedule and once again, makes me wish I lived closer to the theater! We all know and love the Universal Classic Monsters (or at least we should!) but few fans have had the opportunity to see them in a movie theater on the big screen. Well, if you live near the Indianapolis area, now you have your chance.

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Universal Horrors at the Music Box Theatre

August 17, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged Dracula, Face of Frankenstein, Frankenstein, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Music Box Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, Universal Horrors, Universal Monsters | Leave a comment

Invisible Man

Because our September and October wasn’t filling up already, the Music Box has decided to screen some of the Universal classics in their Universal Horror: A Matinee Series, starting at 11:30am on each weekend listed below. Plus the fact that these are all being screened from 35mm prints! Now is your chance to see some of these essential titles from our horror history but on the big screen like they were meant to be seen! Here’s the schedule for this series:

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Book Review: Monster Movies of Universal Studios

July 29, 2017 by Jon Kitley in Reviews: Horror Reference Book and tagged Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Frankenstein, James L. Neibaur, Monster Movies of Universal Studios, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Wolf Man | Leave a comment

The Monster Movies of Universal Studios
By James L. Neibaur
Published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. 213 pages.

Anytime there is a book about the Universal monster movies, then count me in, since I’m always up for revisiting these classic films. Of course, the only problem is that since this subject has been written about just a few times before, it might be tough to come up with something new and different for readers to get information that have haven’t several times before. But overall, I think that Neibaur does a good job discussing these films.

After a very brief history of Universal Studios (which could be a book on it’s own), the it follows all the movies from there that feature their main set of monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. So any film that featured one of these monsters, or possibly their descendent, the title is covered. There is a total of 29 features covered here, starting with 1931’s Dracula and ending with The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), with each chapter covering each of the titles. The credits and cast are listed, before Neibaur gets into details of each film, such as the plot, information about the people involved, and some other trivia as well.

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