Robert Chipman
Welcome to my column dedicated to the appreciation of physical media supplements called: Feature Presentations. The goal of this column is not to say whether a film is good or bad and worth picking up or not—I would like to highlight the discs that go the extra mile and provide film fans with enough tasty tidbits to satisfy even the hungriest of cinephiles. With all that out of the way, today’s article will focus on Scream Factory‘s release of Memoirs of an Invisible Man.
John Carpenter is a director adored by many film fans, myself included. Starting with his humble beginnings with Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13 through his horror golden years of Halloween and The Thing and even into his big-budget Hollywood fare, there isn’t a film of his that isn’t at least entertaining. Depending on your taste, movies like The Ward, Ghosts of Mars, or even Escape from L.A. may not strike your fancy. While I will not defend The Ward, I’ll go down swinging on Ghosts of Mars and Escape from L.A. Yet I think there is one cinematic offering in the director’s filmography that most will agree is his most disappointing: 1992’s Memoirs of an Invisible Man.
Departing from the tension-filled horror classics of his earlier works or even the satirization of his films to follow, Memoirs of an Invisible Man is an odd movie. Playing against type, John Carpenter tackles the themes of science fiction and action/thriller—not his strongest suit. Even stranger, Chevy Chase, of all people, stars as Nick, an analyst who becomes invisible after an accident at a laboratory. Chase scenes, romantic interludes, and occasional attempts at comedy follow.
There’s nothing wrong with attempting to step outside one’s comfort zone. Whether or not it works is less important than not pigeon-holing yourself for the entirety of your career. At the same time, that also sets up the potential for a massive failure, which is what Memoirs of an Invisible Man is. Chevy Chase is wholly miscast, and John Carpenter’s specific eye for direction is awash in a mediocre movie that thirty other journeyman directors in Hollywood can make. And, after reading about the troubled production history for Memoirs of an Invisible Man makes sense as Carpenter came aboard only after multiple directors passed on the project. The result is a bland and formulaic cinematic exercise that doesn’t play to either John Carpenter’s or Chevy Chase’s strengths.
As I mentioned in my 2022 Scream Factory Shocktober sale pick-ups, Memoirs of an Invisible Man was one of the Blu-rays I picked up, even knowing it is one of John Carpenter’s weakest films. The completionist in me said yes to the sale price, and voila! It’s now in my collection.
Seeing how Memoirs of an Invisible Man got a snazzy Blu-ray release and John Carpenter’s physical media releases usually come loaded with features, one might assume this film would continue that trend. Unfortunately, this release disappoints in the supplemental material department.
The first feature, “How to Become Invisible: The Dawn of Digital F/X,” is a brief featurette from 2003 with members of the film’s effects team detailing how their team created the finished effects. While short, “How to Become Invisible” makes the most of its time by packing interview snippets with behind-the-scenes shots showing the production team in action. Looking at Memoirs of an Invisible Man now, the VFX hasn’t aged particularly well, but for the time, these were state-of-the-art, and it’s interesting to see how challenging some of these shots were for the time. It’s easy to forget the digital pioneers that paved the way for effects artists of today. Nowadays, it takes a lot to “wow” an audience with effects work, so I appreciate Scream Factory including this feature if, for nothing else, to offer a tip of the cap to the artists of yesteryear whose struggles helped pave the way for the enhancements in CGI that we see in today’s films.
Scream Factory includes vintage interviews with John Carpenter, Chevy Chase, and actress Daryl Hannah. Created to market Memoirs of an Invisible Man, there isn’t much depth offered. Chevy Chase discusses the behind-the-scenes of creating an invisible character, while John Carpenter talks about wanting to make a film based on the Invisible Man. There are a few bits of production footage that are fascinating, but these interviews aren’t essential.
More interesting, to me at least, is a compilation of behind-the-scenes footage. I’m a sucker for fly-on-the-wall-type footage, and this brief yet interesting feature spoke my language. You see John Carpenter doing what he does best behind the camera and working hand-in-hand in rehearsals with Chevy Chase during multiple sequences. There isn’t anything groundbreaking offered—just a slice of film production and life on a film set.
Scream Factory also includes a handful of outtakes. The collection features a confrontation with a contamination unit and Nick, a dream sequence, and a few excised bits from existing scenes. The most notable is the dream sequence, played for laughs and rightfully removed.
The disc closes with the film’s theatrical trailer and ten television spots. I recall HBO did an almost-30-minute behind-the-scenes feature for Memoirs of an Invisible Man around the time of the film’s release. And, while EPKs aren’t the best for in-depth production knowledge, it would have helped fill in the disc a bit more.
Anyone familiar with John Carpenter’s other films on disc knows he’s one of the finest contributors to an audio commentary. In my opinion, not having him contribute a track for Memoirs of an Invisible Man speaks volumes about his work on the film. As I mentioned earlier, Memoirs of an Invisible Man underwent a turbulent production, and the lack of new features emphasizes how few people want to be associated with the film. These are just my thoughts and speculations, but to me, this makes sense.
And there you have it! Memoirs of an Invisible Man doesn’t do justice to the Invisible Man character, nor is it a high watermark in John Carpenter or Chevy Chase’s careers. The disc from Scream Factory is fine, but the lack of new features and only surface-level, archival extras gives off the vibe that no one really cared about this release and just tossed it out to the masses in the hopes of moving a few units.
