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AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

Posted in Halloween, holiday, monsters, movies, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, Halloween, holiday, monsters, movie reviews, movies, pop culture, Universal Studios on October 21, 2015 by Paxton

The comedy team of Abbott and Costello starred in a series of films in which they meet up with characters from Universal Studios. The first was Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. I reviewed it for AWESOME-tober-fest back in 2009. That movie was a giant hit for Universal.

At the time, Universal was planning another straight forward sequel in the Invisible Man series (the last being The Invisible Man’s Revenge in 1948). However, due to the success of the comedy movie, they had their script rewritten to be another But and Lou comedy. This movie was Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man and it was released in 1951.

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Unlike Meets Frankenstein, none of the original Invisible Man actors returned for this movie. Several different actors portrayed the Invisible Man in the Universal movies, but they didn’t get any of them to return. Especially not Claude Rains, the originator of the role as he’d become a huge Hollywood star by this point having starred in Casablanca, Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Notorious.

This time the titular invisible man is a new character that benefits from the serum created in the original 1933 classic. And yes, there are some dropped lines here and there to connect this directly to that original movie. The invisibility serum is said to have been invented by Dr John Griffin. We even see a picture on the wall of Claude Rains, who portrayed Griffin in the original movie. So they at least tried to keep some continuity.

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So, what did I think? It’s not bad. I had lowered expectations after my viewings of Meets Frankenstein, so that probably helped. Surprisingly the invisible effects aren’t bad, but they are much more gimmicky than the 1933 original. They work, but you can pretty much tell how they work. Part of this may be because many of the effects are recycled from previous invisible man movies. Even going as far as re-using footage and reversing it.

It’s a shame, because I’m a fan of Bud and Lou in their skits and TV shows. I still regularly rewatch skits like Who’s on First? on YouTube because they are GREAT. As a matter of fact, I just stopped writing this article to go watch it again. SO. GOOD. But I’m just not digging the movies I’ve seen of theirs. It’s sort of the same issue I have with The Three Stooges. I love the shorts, but I just can’t get into their movies.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: Fade (1988) – Robert Cormier

Posted in books, pop culture with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, Book Report, books, Invisible Man, monsters on October 20, 2015 by Paxton

In 1988 Robert Cormier published the novel Fade. It is about a boy named Paul who discovers that he has the ability to turn himself invisible, or fade.

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Since this book’s publication it has consistently been on the American Library Association’s list of Most Challenged Books for it’s depiction of violence, murder and incest.

The book begins in a small town outside Boston called Monument during the late Depression era. As a teen, Paul is fascinated by tales of his uncle and this mysterious photograph from which everyone says the uncle was there but he isn’t in the photograph. When that uncle visits, Paul learns his secret. Certain male members of his family gain the ability to fade. It is typically passed down from uncles to nephews. His uncle has it, and so does Paul. This ability has been kept a strict secret. Only the individuals with the power actually know about it and never reveal it to the rest of the family. Or anyone else. The uncle warns that it is not the gift it appears to be.

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That’s the basic setup in the beginning, but the book is structured very different and goes several different places than you would expect from the first 100 pages or so. It took me by surprise. There are essentially 5 parts of the book, each focusing on a different character and each part jumps around in time forward many years into the future and then back again. And honestly, for the first 2/3 of the book, the ability to fade is almost incidental to the story. The story is really about Paul and his relationships with his family and especially his Aunt and how these relationships affect him later in life.

While using his ability, Paul finds out the fade can actually be a curse when he witnesses things he shouldn’t. And it becomes apparent to him that the fade may be creating in him thoughts and urges he wouldn’t have otherwise. This sets up what happens later in the book as we fast forward into the future. There are other aspects to the fade that are interesting. Paul can somewhat control the ability at first, but it sort of takes on a life of its own later. Also, unlike other invisible men, Paul’s clothes become invisible when he fades. Which is doubly interesting because other physical objects he’s touching, like a knife, won’t turn invisible.

Did I like the book? Yes. It was definitely not what I was expecting, but the characters were interesting as was the aspect of fading.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: The Invisible Mouse (1947)

Posted in books, cartoons, Halloween, holiday, pop culture, TV shows with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, cartoons, Halloween, holiday, Invisible Man, TV shows on October 19, 2015 by Paxton

The Invisible Mouse was an episode of Tom and Jerry directed by Hanna and Barbera and was released in 1947.

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It was a parody of the Invisible Man concept from both the HG Wells novel and the Universal Studios movie (which was released 14 years prior to the cartoon).

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As usual the cartoon starts with the rampant chasing and violence between Tom and Jerry. They chase each other up a flight of stairs, jump on the banister and start sliding down. Then Jerry shifts to a second banister to avoid….wait, WHAT?! I don’t think banisters work that way. What the hell is going on there?

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Jerry jumps on the counter, finds a “chemo set” and jumps in a random bottle to evade Tom. However, it seems that Jerry accidentally jumped into a bottle of “invisible ink”. And it’s turning him invisible.

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Interesting. Jerry’s invisibility is not hampered by seeing your food through your stomach. Whatever he eats seems to immediately turn invisible.

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But he still apparently casts a shadow. Wait, what?! What is the light reflecting around to cause that shadow?!

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Jerry has lots of fun with his new invisibility. He gives Tom the classic “hot foot” and tees off on Tom’s backside with what looks like a 3 Wood.

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The short ends with Jerry banishing Tom from the house by getting Spike the dog to chase after him and then laying on Tom’s pillow drinking his chocolate milk. Which seems to restore Jerry back to visible?! Okay.

Well, this particular version of invisible has some goofy rules but what can you expect from a Tom and Jerry cartoon? It’s still a fairly enjoyable watch for fans of the show.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: The Invisible Man TV series (2000)

Posted in pop culture, TV shows with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, Halloween, holiday, Invisible Man, monsters, pop culture, TV shows on October 16, 2015 by Paxton

There have been a surprising number of invisible man series here and over in Britain. Instead of covering all of them, I decided to look at one that I was the most familiar with.

In the summer of 2000 a TV show premiered featuring a sci-fi based modern interpretation of an invisible man. It was called, oddly enough, The Invisible Man.

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The show would last for two seasons on the fledgling Sci-Fi channel.

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I vaguely remember this show airing. If only for the “quicksilver” effect of the guy turning invisible. It’s a more science-y update of the invisible man story.

Darien Fawkes (as in Dumbledore’s pet phoenix) is a thief. And not a particularly good one. He is caught and sent to prison for his third strike. His scientist brother bails him out and promises him freedom if he’ll participate in an experiment for a few weeks.

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That experiment involves an artificial gland that is surgically inserted into Darien’s head that excretes a special substance called Quicksilver that coats Darien’s body and turns him invisible. At first he can’t control it, it can only be triggered by adrenaline. Darien, at first eager to remove the gland, is just beginning to learn to control the Quicksilver through Tai-Chi when one of the lead scientists on the team double crosses everyone, kills them and attempts to trap Darien. In the process, he kills Darien’s brother.

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Darien barely escapes but is forced to go on the run from the rogue scientist. He is approached by The Agency, the covert government division that funded his brother’s experiments. It seems the rogue scientist also tampered with the Quicksilver gland so it’ll cause Darien to slowly go mad with rage the more he uses his invisibility and the longer he goes without a special serum. The Agency offers their help and access to the serum if Darien works for them.

And that’s mostly the setup of the show. There are some interesting ideas. The effects aren’t that bad. My main problem is with the actor who plays Darien, Vincent Ventresca. He’s kind of a douche bag. He’s supposed to be, but he does it too well. I can’t root for the guy because he’s a dick. And they try to make him rogue-ish and likeable, but that actually works against him. He’s a two-bit crook who robs from elderly old men (as you see in the beginning and it’s actually what he’s put in jail for) yet he quotes Mark f**king Twain to one of the scientists. Annoying.

The concept is interesting enough, that I did wind up watching a few episodes of the show hoping Darien’s edge would be dulled a bit as the show progressed. I watched the 2 hour pilot and a few of the “gimmick” shows like the one with the “evil invisible man” and the possible return of the dead brother. There’s also one with an invisible woman, but I didn’t make it quite that far. But I did read far enough ahead on Wikipedia to discover where the government got the Quicksilver…but that’s a tale for another day.

The show isn’t bad, even if the lead is a bit unlikable.

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This is funny. At one point Darien goes to an out of the way taco place to meet a government agent. As he walks in, hanging just over the cook’s left shoulder, oh so subtle-like, is the poster for the original Universal The Invisible Man. Well played, Sci-Fi.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

AWESOME-tober-fest 2015: Starlog’s pop culture history of invisibility (1992)

Posted in magazine, movies, pop culture, Starlog, TV shows with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2015, Invisible Man, magazines, movies, pop culture, Starlog, TV shows on October 15, 2015 by Paxton

In issue 177 of Starlog magazine, which showcases an interview with John Carpenter about his upcoming Memoirs of an Invisible Man, there is an article by Michael Wolff on the pop culture history of invisibility. It’s written as if invisibility exists and is recounting the many different ways one would make oneself invisible. And throughout the article Wolff peppers in movies and TV shows that featured some form of invisibility.

Here’s the article, click to make the images BIGGER.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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