The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell on reviving a horror classic

Director Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, which serves as a reimagining of the 1933 original of the same name, is set to be released this month and will shift the focus away from the titular character and towards his former girlfriend who is the target of his terror.

Although Whannell is attempting to the reinvent the beloved horror classic, he noted during a recent interview with ComicBook that as long as he makes the audience scared, fans won’t be too mad at him for approaching the familiar property.

“It didn’t hinder me. My one thought was, ‘People won’t be mad at me if they’re terrified,'” Whannell said. “All you have to do is scare people and they’ll quickly forgive you. But that’s a big hurdle to jump, so I wasn’t sure that I could scare them, but I knew if I did, I’d be okay. Hopefully, I did, otherwise I’ll be hearing about it on social media.”

Whannell continued the explain that once the initial thought of the direction for the film was suggested, he didn’t deviate from the direction featured in the final product.

“Every script is difficult but the actual idea, the direction I wanted to take it in, that was very early,” Whannell revealed. “This was an idea that was suggested to me, this wasn’t something where I was standing by, ready to make. I wasn’t like, ‘I’m burning to make an Invisible Man movie.’ Somebody suggested the title to me and basically just that suggestion triggered all these thoughts of how I could do the film. And that initial thought of the direction I would go in stayed through all the drafts and the finished movie you see really reflects that, which, as you know, is rare for a movie, for the idea to survive all those different iterations.”

Are you looking forward to The Invisible Man? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @flickeringmyth…

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy and brilliant scientist, Cecilia Kass (Moss) escapes in the dead of night and disappears into hiding, aided by her sister (Harriet Dyer, NBC’s The InBetween), their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton) and his teenage daughter (Storm Reid, HBO’s Euphoria).

But when Cecilia’s abusive ex (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House) commits suicide and leaves her a generous portion of his vast fortune, Cecilia suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of eerie coincidences turns lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

The Invisible Man is set for release on February 28th.