Review: The Invisible Man Appears / The Invisible Man vs The Human Fly
Blu-ray: The Invisible Man Appears (1949) The Invisible Man vs The Human Fly (1957)
While being familiar with (and very much enjoying) a variety of ‘Invisible Man’ movies, including the classic 1933 James Whale / Claude Rains version, the John Carpenter helmed 1992 adaptation, and the recent 2020 movie which very much exceeded all expectations I had for it, I was completely unaware of these 2 Japanese entries into invisibility.
Finally released outside Japan for the very first time, these are two of the earliest examples of tokusatsu (special effects) cinema from Daiei Studios, later the home of Gamera.
In The Invisible Man Appears, a scientist successfully creates an invisibility serum, only to then be kidnapped by a gang of thugs who wish to use the formula to rob a priceless jewel.
Whereas The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly tells the story of a series of mysterious murders where the only clue is strange buzzing noise at the scene of the crime, which could (of course!) be linked to secret wartime experiments in shrinking humans to the size of insects. Which means that only a scientist who’s just invented an invisibility ray can be the one to stop it.
Both movies have entertaining visual effects (for the time) and interesting narratives, which then combine to create an atmosphere of suspense and draw you into them, but I have to admit that I missed the more whimsical tone of the 1933 version, or the sheer sense of dread created in the 2020 movie.
Both movies tended to drag at times, leading to sections where I just wanted to see more ‘invisible action’ playing out onscreen, rather than more dialogue scenes that weren’t particularly engaging.
Great work by Arrow though for making these accessible for everyone to discover on blu-ray.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition (1080p) transfers of both films on one Blu-ray disc
- Original lossless Japanese mono audio on both films
- Optional English subtitles for both films
- Transparent Terrors, a newly filmed interview with critic and genre scholar Kim Newman on the history of the “Invisible Man” in cinema
- Theatrical trailer for The Invisible Man Appears
- Image galleries for both films
- Reversible sleeve featuring new and original artwork by Graham Humphreys
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Keith Allison, Hayley Scanlon and Tom Vincent.
Review by Dave from discs kindly supplied by Arrow Films via Fetch Publicity.