SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our SEEING DOUBLE Series, Saturday, October 22, 2022
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.
7pm THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933, dir. James Whale, Universal, USA, 70mns, DCP*)
8:15 Q&A w/ Leigh Whannell & DP Stefan Duscio
8:45pm THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020, dir. Leigh Whannell, Universal, USA, 124mns, DCP*)
*Special Note: DCP at Universal's request
Tonight, we’re excited to welcome writer/director Leigh Whannell (Saw, Insidious, Upgrade) for a Q&A about his amazing 2020 remake of The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss. So if you’re ready to speak with a filmmaker who has helped shape modern horror for the last 15+ years, plan to attend!
First up, we offer up as primer, the 1933 James Whale-directed Universal classic The Invisible Man starring Claude Reins and based on H.G. Wells' novel of the same name. If you’ve never seen this original masterwork from Universal’s first monster cycle (which included the Bela Lugosi Dracula and the Boris Karloff Frankenstein), be prepared to be blown away by special effects that are still mind boggling.
But just as impressive is how committed Whale (Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein) and actor Reins are to making sure the tale is taut, frightening, and intelligent.
The movie opens with a crackerjack beginning as a stranger -- who we later learn is chemist Dr. Jack Griffin -- arrives at an inn swaddled in bandages and wearing dark glasses. As the movie progresses, we learn that Kemp is slowly going mad from his experiments which he’s conducted on himself. Though he’s gained invisibility, the cost, especially to his personal life and romance, are immense.
Much like Cronenberg’s 1986 The Fly (which may have been inspired by the original The Invisible Man), the 1933 tale is about the consequences of hubris and flying too close to the sun on wax wings.
We follow this up with Leigh Whannell’s equally intelligent and subversive Blumhouse remake of The Invisible Man in 2020.
Interestingly, Universal had been planning a whole “Dark Universe” series that effectively got cancelled when Tom Cruise’s The Mummy underperformed. Consequently, a Johnny Depp starring The Invisible Man also got axed.
Whannell, experienced at high effect low budget horror as one of the originator’s of the Saw franchise (which he wrote and co-starred in and his collaborator James Wan directed), stepped in. Whannell re-imagined the movie as a parable for domestic violence victims with the focus now on Cecilia Kass (an incredible Elisabeth Moss) who escapes an abusive relationship with optics engineer/industrialist Adrian Griffin.
When Kass goes into hiding, Adrian appears to commit suicide and leave her $5 million dollars. But when she starts to be terrorized by an unseen presence she realizes that Adrian may have staged everything to further torment her.
An unsettling and powerful update that finds a way to stay true to the original conception while introducing insightful themes into the dynamics of dysfunctional relationships, Whannell’s The Invisible Man is a movie to be seen. And you can ask the filmmaker himself how he does it!
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
*Speaker attendance based on availability and schedule. If a Speaker is unable to make an event because of a last minute change in schedule, we will do our best to alert the audience. When this does happen we will always offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.