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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Thursday, August 27, 2020

The New Invisible Man (1958)

Starring Arturo de Cordova, Ana Luisa Peluffo, Raul Meraz, Augusto Benedico, Nestor de Barbosa
Directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

When an innocent man is framed for a murder he didn't commit, his brother gives him an invisibility formula he's developed to escape prison and try to find the real killer.

This film from Mexico has a plot line that closely follows Universal's 1940 production The Invisible Man Returns, and also has several scenes reminiscent of 1933's The Invisible Man, although lacking the high quality of their production values and special effects.  It's still a game effort though, with the invisibility effects well-rendered, despite the fact they're nothing we haven't seen before.  Although set in a modern timeline, the core story elements are the same as in H.G. Wells' classic novel and the original film, as the Invisible Man's mind begins to become deranged, only calmed by the love for his fiancee, while his brother searches for a way to reverse the condition.  I can't really recommend the picture as it's definitely inferior to its American cousins, but it's interesting to see how the Mexican cast and crew approach the material, and I enjoyed Antonio Diaz Conde's score, featuring an eerie title theme.

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