Hands up if you’ve ever wished for the power of invisibility (whether for the novelty factor, mischief, or as a means to more nefarious ends)? Since the publication of H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel The Invisible Man there have been numerous cinematic takes on the theme, notables for me being Hollow Man in 2000 and 2020’s The Invisible Man, each of which stray in their own manner from the original plotline, the results both being a sci-fi hi-tech success.

Fear the Invisible Man director Paul Dudbridge and the writers have stuck closer to the novel’s Victorian London setting, making for a more classical re-telling; the mad scientist Griffin (Mike Beckingham) mixing his potent potions by candlelight as feverishly as Dr.Jekyll before bailiffs hammering at his door can gain entry, scupper his success, and render him penniless and homeless. In the nick of time his self-administered elixir does its job and he’s able to escape, though not before causing an explosion that destroys both his lab and the debt collectors with equal efficiency.

Before long news of crimes allegedly committed by a mysteriously unseen perpetrator is filtering through to young widow Adeline (Mhairi Calvey), who has more earthly woes weighing on her; she’s paying her bills by gradually divesting her country manor house of its trinkets in order to not be forced to sell it. The last thing she needs is when Griffin (a former schoolmate) turns up needing his wounds seen to and begins rather creepily lurking unseen around said house. Not only this, but he also needs her help to retrieve his journals from Marvel (Grahame Fox) a homeless man he forces to help him, and who in return pockets the cash as well as the books containing all the notes on his experiments, and does a bunk.

In her desperate financial position Adeline has little choice but to be drawn into his increasingly demented schemes, not realising until almost the end of the film just how unhinged he’s become. This is something I’ve noticed in all the adaptations I’ve seen; how such a superpower as this tends to go rather to the invisible person’s head, turning them into an unpleasant megalomaniac, usually with malicious intent. Often, as one might expect to be the result of subjecting oneself to a process as unnatural as this, there’s a toll on them physically too, which kind of goes hand in hand with the power-crazedness and downward shift in character.

I found Fear the Invisible Man quite an engaging watch, though perhaps a little more emphasis on Griffin’s murderous exploits rather than Adeline’s general involvement may have raised my level of interest. Purists may scoff at the CGI, but I thought the scenes from the Victorian streets were handled pretty effectively; the dark and misty cobbled passageways with their smattering of shadowy inhabitants reminiscent of both Mary Poppins and any number of Jack the Ripper dramatisations, if you get me. I also thought Griffin’s transformation after the self-administered injection was fabulously gruesome and rather novel. Nice attention to detail with the authenticity of his antiquated equipment (glass syringes, etc.) as well.

As I mentioned previously, the pacing and focus of this movie does add a bit of drag factor; however, there’s the time-honoured yet enjoyable element of Griffin’s ’empty’ clothes floating around, plus the scene in the pub where he gets someone’s dinner lobbed over him. Overall, not bad, but Fear the Invisible Man could’ve done with a bit more consistency in the pacing and a wee more focus on the man himself.