Eccentric scientist Dr. Drury (a nicely quirky and lively portrayal by John Carradine) tests his in visibility formula on wanted fugitive Robert Griffin (a solid performance by Jon Hall), who uses his newfound invisible status to get revenge on his former friends who cheated him out of a fortune in diamonds.Director Ford Beebe relates the engrossing story at a quick pace, maintains a generally serious tone throughout, and further spices things up with amusing moments of amiable humor, with an inspired darts game sequence rating as the definite comic highlight. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an able cast: Leon Errol as hearty old rascal Herbert, Alan Curtis as snoopy reporter Mark Foster, Evelyn Ankers as the sweet Julie Herrick, Gale Sondergaard as the duplicitous Irene, Lester Matthews as shady nobleman Sir Jasper, and Halliwell Hobbes as fussy butler Cleghorn. The special effects run hot and cold. Both Milton R. Krashner's moody cinematography and Hans J. Salter's robust score are up to par. An entertaining movie.

The original "IM" was directed by James Whalen. This fourth movie in the series was directed by Ford Beebee. That should tell you everything you need to know. But I'll expand on it anyway to meet the minimum word length requirements. The movie is crisply shot and photographed, has a few nice visual setups and reveals here and there, and features a good-looking-in- an-Errol-Flynn-way protagonist, so it has that going for it. But the plot takes forever to get going and isn't any good once it does. Hall has a certain screen presence, and his character actually has some sympathy coming, but there's nothing interesting about his so-called "madness", and things just poke along in scene after scene until you're tired of the whole thing and just want it over with. John Carradine gives his usual dependable performance, but he can't carry the film. Proof, if any were needed, that Universal could make mediocre films with the rest of the studios in the horror business, especially in the later years when their creative forces were wearing thin.

The Invisible Man's Revenge is rather Horror Lite from Universal pictures, 1944. As horrors go, there are a lot better but certainly a whole lot worse. This picture has the advantage of not taking itself too seriously. While I wouldn't call it a comedy the presence of comic actor Leon Errol (who's excellent, btw), nudges it in that direction, at least some of the time.The movie starts out quite well, and early on takes on some of the trappings of a Sherlock Holmes picture due to some familiar sets and supporting player. It's established early on as a revenge story, with American Jon Hall (cast as a Brit, unless I missed something) returning to England for his share of a fortune in diamonds he was cheated our of by his former friends and business associates.Enter John Carradine--on a dark and stormy night, no less--and the invisibility aspects of the story begin to take shape. Carradine is quite good as a mad doctor who had learned to make thing invisible, which comes in handy for Jon Hall. What ensues is a fairly by the number horror cum crime picture, well acted by all. That the film is handsome to look at helps enormously.This movie is not a direct sequel to any of the early Invisible Man pictures that preceded it. Universal never seemed to know quite man to do with the invisibility business established in the 1933 The Invisible Man; and they played fast and loose with it, on and off, for nearly another twenty years till the inevitable meeting with Abbott and Costello. The Invisible Man's Revenge is a lot better than that, and just as good as the first sequel in the series.

Robert Griffin (Jon Hall) escapes from an asylum and seeks out his old friends, Sir Jasper and Lady Irene (Lester Matthews, Gale Sondergaard). Griffin accuses the two of leaving him for dead in Africa years before and taking full claim for the diamond mine he had discovered, which subsequently made them rich. The two deny this and say they were told Griffin was dead by their guide. They offer to pay him half of what they have but Griffin, now quite insane, refuses and says he wants it all plus their daughter Julie (Evelyn Ankers)! They throw Griffin out, which leads to him meeting up with a Cockney blackmailer (Leon Errol) and eventually a scientist (John Carradine), who enlists him to take part in the inevitable invisibility experiment. The experiment is successful and Griffin, now invisible, returns to get even with Jasper and Irene.Despite being named Griffin, this Invisible Man shares no history with the previous ones. It's John Carradine's scientist who has created the invisibility formula here. Also, Griffin is nuts before the movie begins so the invisibility formula can't be blamed for that. To make matters slightly more confusing, Hall plays the lead here and he also played the lead (another Griffin) in Invisible Agent.The cast helps overcome a messy script. Hall is quite convincing as the psycho Invisible Man. Carradine, as usual, is great as the scientist. Leon Errol seems to ruffle quite a few feathers among viewers, judging by reviews here. His character was pretty much unnecessary but he didn't bother me. Gale Sondergaard is always a treat to watch but she gets little to do and seems to disappear from the story altogether after a half-hour or so. Lester Matthews is fine as the weakling husband who may or may not have left Griffin for dead in Africa. Evelyn Ankers has a thankless part. Halliwell Hobbes is the butler, as he often was in these films.Part of the problem with the story is that no one is that likable. The closest thing to a hero in the movie is Alan Curtis' reporter character and there's something about him that kind of bugged me. Another problem is the script feels uneven, especially in the early part. Reportedly the first draft of the script had Jasper and Irene as much more villainous characters and no doubt was cast on their attempt to kill Griffin, both in Africa as well as upon his showing up at their house in this film. That's not the case in the final version yet the pair still seems unsympathetic, so I wonder why they bothered changing it all, if they did? The special effects are OK, if a little sloppy in some scenes. I think some reviewers have overstated just how sloppy they were. It's not like you see wires in every scene or even most scenes. I think only eagle-eyed viewers will spot most of the flaws with the effects.Overall, it's a good movie of its type. Not great, but watchable B-grade entertainment. It's got a solid cast with a strong performance from Jon Hall in the lead. Still, it's easy to see why Universal stopped the series after this one.