Fabulous Films, out October 1

John Carpenter’s Chevy Chase-starring sci-fi comedy gets a UK Blu-Ray premiere on an otherwise fairly sparse release.

It’s currently a good time for John Carpenter fans wanting to upgrade their old movies for higher quality formats. In addition to four upcoming 4K releases and a Prince of Darkness Blu-Ray, the director’s 1992 Memoirs of an Invisible Man gets a Blu-Ray disc, though the release suffers from very slim extras. A gallery and trailer are supported by three minutes of out-takes and a four minute look at the early CG effects employed by ILM in the movie… and that’s it. And at one hour 39 it’s hardly like there’s issues of disc space.

Unfortunately there’s not an awful lot of love for this movie which is not that funny, not that original and… worst of all… doesn’t feel like a John Carpenter movie. None of his trademark touches are apparent, and even scoring duties have been handed to someone else (the very capable Shirley Walker).

Made the year after Terminator 2, the visual effects were already developing at a pace, but it’s hard to watch the movie through 1992 eyes, as they just look too primitive to modern eyes, not helped by the crisp 4K restoration, which often amplifies the joins. On the plus side, Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah are fine as the leads and Sam Neill is always good value as the bad guy.  Ivan Reitman was originally on board as director, but when he departed the project Carpenter came on board, but this really isn’t a fit to his established style.

Verdict: No less funny than most of Chevy Chase’s comedy vehicles, it’s only a middling sci-fi adventure and certainly a poor John Carpenter film. The dearth of extras seems a missed opportunity too – surely someone had a story to tell? 6/10

Nick Joy

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