Leigh Whannell has long been a pusher of boundaries of and expectations in genre filmmaking. From his break out locked room horror mashup movie Saw created alongside director James Wan to the cult action flick Upgrade, Whannell always seems to want to do something that has never been done before and his latest film The Invisible Man seems like it’ll be extending that vision. We’ve got a behind the scenes peak into Whannell’s creative process in a new exclusive video from Universal. It teases some of the exhilarating action and gorgeous locations that feature in the newest iteration of the classic Universal monster movie.
Our exclusive clip opens with a glimpse at one of the most exciting scenes from the movie. In it, an invisible force decimates the security guards of a local mental health institute, one by one. It’s a brutal but brilliant opening to the short video. It further centers on Whannell’s dedication to crafting something that centered on in camera effects and practical stunt work. “I’m a big fan of practical effects over digital effects. But it’s scary because everything has to go right.” Whannell explains as we see Elisabeth Moss’ Cecilia flung around on wires as she battles with a stunt man who will at some point become invisible.
Whannell’s take on The Invisible Man takes from the sci-fi parable crafted by H.G. Wells in the beloved novel rather than from the more comedic and anti-heroic portrayals from the classic Universal Monsters canon. The protagonist here isn’t the titular horror but is instead Moss’ Cecilia a young woman on the run from her abusive ex, Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) who may or may not have the power to make himself invisible. It’s an exhilarating take on the horrors of ego and unchecked scientific experiments that Wells warned of, but in a starkly modern setting that focuses on the horrors of abuse rather than the previously supernatural fear of what cannot be seen.
Universal
Going along with that interesting sentiment, our clip showcases this is a very different version of the usual, bandaged anti-hero. It’s a grim and timely take that despite Whannell’s intriguing decision to focus on the sci-fi elements will still be utterly horrifying, as the director teases in the clip. “It’s always good to spill some blood. We’ve spilled a fair bit of blood in my career, snapped limbs, scalped people, but this is special,” Whannell teases over a montage of slickly edited behind the scenes action.
We’re really excited to see how The Invisible Man lands when the movie comes out on Friday 28th of Feb. This could a whole new era of Universal Monster movies being treated as their own individual properties with different directors given full creative reign over them… Whatever happens to the franchise as a whole, this awesome clip has gotten us super stoked for whatever horror Whannell and co. have in store for us when their new take on the Universal Monster movie hits later this week.
Header Image: Universal
