The Invisible Man Returns (1940) - Region 2 PAL, plays in English without subtitles

For the most part The Invisible Man Returns swings along nicely. Headed by an all star cast, Cedric Hardwicke and Vincent Price as the Invisible Man. It's good that the sequel really is a sequel, unlike the other ' invisible' films in the Universal catalogue. There are many references to the original, including even a picture of Claude Rains.The effects are either quite dodgy- check out the injection scene, or absolutely marvellous- for the time, you have to give the makers credit here. I've always said that for the Invisible movies to work, no matter what time period it's from, you need much like a cartoon, imagination, and then the effect works better. This film has this in abundence.It's nice to hear at least Price, though we do get a glimpse of him at one point. This film is considered Price's first jump into the horror genre. Though that depends who you ask, as some don't consider these films horror. Alas it's a good performance all round.But I feel that maybe the film didn't need a sequel. Why wait 9 years for instance? Possibly to get James Whale back again directing? Possibly, but that failed anyway. The film is entertaining enough, but feels like a rematch of a far superior film. Don't get me wrong, this film is still certaintly worth viewing.

I think I saw this on the BBC in the 80s. You would have thought that with Vincent Price and Cedric Hardwicke this would be a good film, but in fact it is quite lightweight and disposable. You only hear Vincent Price's voice for most of the film which means that he is not interacting in real time and space with the actors.