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.
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