THE INVISIBLE MAN

 H. G. Wells for the age of the Me Too Movement. Horror classics don't have to be fusty old period pieces with mist-shrouded castles and the occasional vampire bat though you might think from the credit titles that Leigh Whannell's "The Invisible Man" is going to be just that, (storm-tossed seas and what light from yonder window shines?). However, the light comes, not from a mist-shrouded castle, but an ultra-modern house that Elisabeth Moss' Cecilia is sharing with her abusive boyfriend. Yes, he's the invisible man of the title, quite literally as it turns out, and he's not prepared to let Moss get away from him.

This is a 21st century horror film built around a very real scenario, (a woman in an abusive relationship is stalked by her abuser only in this case she can't see him), and it's creepily alarming throughout. Moss, one of the best actresses on the planet, is terrific as the victim forced to fight back against an unseen assailant. It's a familiar role that can be traced back to the dawn of cinema but Moss gives it shadings other actresses might only dream of. Credit, too, to Whannell for handling what is fundamentally a ridiculous plot and making it feel both very real and very scary. At last a multiplex movie worth going out of your way to see.

DEVI

 Satyajit Ray made "Devi" in 1960. It was only his sixth film after completing his 'Apu Trilogy' and "The Music Room" but it's much less well-known and little seen today. It's also a masterpiece. The great Chhabi Biswas, (he of "The Music Room"), once again plays a rich, lonely old man who comes to believe his daughter-in-law is a reincarnation of the Goddess Kali. If the tale is a fanciful one it's grounded in the harsh realities of the India of the time, (it's set in the mid-nineteenth century), and its heart is a heart of darkness. Goddess or witch, the end result is the same; such superstition can only have a tragic outcome and this is one of Ray's finest tragedies. Working again with what was basically his stock company, Ray draws superb performances from his cast and like so much of his work, this is a great ensemble piece, superbly shot by Subrata Mitra and scored by Ali Akbar Khan. It's a film that cries out for restoration and rediscovery.

MR. TOPAZE

 The only film that Peter Sellers ever directed was this comedy set in the Paris of the not-too-distant past and based on a Marcel Pagnol play that was filmed several times before, though this version, produced and written by Pierre Rouve, is chock full of well-known English character actors pretending they're French. In hindsight, it might feel like a strange choice for Sellers' directorial debut, and sole effort, but at least he's got the plum title role of "Mr. Topaze". a mild-mannered and scrupulously honest school master who loses his job because he won't give a rich man's son a better grade. As it happens, said rich man, (Herbert Lom), is also a crook who then employs Sellers to act as a 'front man' for his crooked business. 

It's shot in Cinemascope which doesn't really suit the material but on the plus side those character actors do throw themselves into the very old-fashioned material but it's certainly never as funny as it thinks it is. Sellers reputedly hated it, so much so that he tried to have all the prints bought up. It's not a bad film as such and at best it might be described as a curiosity and so out of step with other comedies of its time, it is, at least,  of more than passing interest but ultimately it's that supporting cast, (Leo McKern, Lom, Michael Gough, Martita Hunt, John Neville and a surprisingly good Nadia Gray), that saves it. It might have been better with a different director, (Sellers was clearly not up to the job). I suppose you could call it a cult movie and now that it's resurfaced maybe you should seek it out.