Hollow Man (2000)

I adore anything that has to do with H.G. Wells’ novel, The Invisible Man. The original Universal adaptation from 1933 is one of the best films of its era, Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man is a fun time, and I’ll go to bat any day for Paul Verhoeven’s Hollow Man. These films work because they are a mixture of practical effects and digital effects, and the creativity in setting up scenes for the invisible antagonist to wreak chaos in is what makes them stand out. There is natural tension in any scene because, theoretically, the Invisible Man could be watching, waiting to make a move, and the paranoia can drive the victims and viewers batty.

That being said, I think the 2020 version of The Invisible Man masters that sense of tension better than any other adaptation that has come before it. Every scene in this movie tries to convey the sense of dread that the Invisible Man could be stalking our lead protagonist, Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss). Cecilia has escaped a controlling and abusive relationship she endured at the hands of her sociopathic ex-boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). After a few weeks of hiding away, Griffin apparently dies; only for Cecilia to be convinced that he’s alive and has found a way to make himself invisible with his optical technology genius.

Spoiler alert: She’s right. Don’t get mad at me -- the movie is literally titled The Invisible Man.

And therein lies one of my problems with the film. It’s far too predictable and it never kept me on my toes despite its excellent execution of tension. What do I mean by that? Let me break it down.

When it comes to cult classics, the horror genre has always had an overwhelming number of B-movies. Horror B-movies refer to the low-budget feature films as compared to major feature films. One might call them “low-grade” cinema as opposed to the more artistic endeavours, but I’d refrain from saying that. The horror B-movie is a source of unbridled entertainment and for the fans of spooky business, it’s the perfect way to round out Halloween night or any night in which they’re in the mood for horror. Usually characterized by a somewhat loose storyline, sometimes some quite silly characters, a little over-the-top acting and a bunch of practical effects, horror B-movies used to rule the world of horror during the ’70s and ’80s with franchises like Friday the 13, Slumber Party Massacre and Halloween.

But since the late '90s, with big-budget horror films like End of Days and Hollow Man, the focus has shifted from the horror B-movie. We now have major horror features like It and Midsommar and every year, there are almost ceremonial releases from the studio A24 which gave us The Witch and Hereditary. This year itself, Ti West's X and Jordan Peele’s Nope came out, which are far from being horror B-movies. But that being said, it’s only the focus that has shifted because we still have horror B-movies being made. If you enjoy the bizarre, less refined and entertaining world of the horror B-movies and want a break from the nuanced and poignant big-budget horror releases, I have a list of gore-fests from the last ten years to enjoy this October. Here are fifteen films for the fifteen days that remain till the auspicious date of Halloween!

The biggest subcategory of horror B-movies by percentage is the slasher film. Almost overdone violence and heavy reliance on practical effects as opposed to CGI characterize the slasher. And of course, the heavily criticized but also equally loved trope of the final girl is a slasher staple. Some of the most gruesome on-screen deaths have been courtesy of the slasher horror B-movie and I’m here to offer you some more horrible killings. If gore makes you queasy, you may consider skipping this segment.