The Core Universal Monster Movies Ranked Worst To Best

“You’re crazy to know who I am, aren’t you? All right – I’ll show you!”

Admittedly, The Invisible Man is much more comfortably categorized as a sci-fi than a horror film. It's also notable that, unlike all of the other classic Universal monsters, the Invisible Man is simply a mortal man, driven insane as a side effect of his experiments and drunk on the power that comes with his invisibility.

As any classic horror fan will tell you, The Invisible Man is fondly remembered for two things: Claude Raines' commanding and menacing voice-only performance, and the jaw-dropping special effects that succeed in leaving today's audiences scratching their heads, let alone audiences in 1933. With any other actor in the role of Jack Griffin, the film probably wouldn't have become nearly as iconic. Raines' manic performance even influenced Mark Hamill's Joker.

An interesting bit of trivia is that Jack Griffin is actually the horror movie villain that boasts the second highest body count, just below Jason Voorhees. This is the result of a train crash that he orchestrates, which is confirmed to have claimed one hundred lives. His total body count at the end of the film reaches a whopping 122 (Jason's count is accumulated over the course of the whole franchise).

One annoyance of the otherwise great film is James Whale's favourite actress, Una O'Connor, who plays the nosy landlady. I don't know whether or not this screeching crow was considered funny in 1933; if so, her 'comedy' hasn't aged well. She's unbearable.

The sequel, The Invisible Man Returns, is also worth a look. It's nothing special, but it has its moments. It also happens to be Vincent Price's first major film role.