The Amazing Transparent Man

Poster tagline: INVISIBLE AND DEADLY!! AN ENTIRE NATION AT HIS MERCY!! This cheap sci-fi film doesn't even come close to offering what the beautiful posters and period publicity promised. In terms of experience and production, it’s a light-weight, because for about 50 minutes (!!) of the hour-long runtime we don't move from the two studio rooms – the living room and the laboratory, where they talk about the upcoming robbery, interpersonal relationships and X-ray (here invisible) the guinea pigs and then the main character. There are two short bank robberies, mixed in with a few exterior scenes shot in Texas and all stitched together in 11 days. Yeah, this was typical Ulmer – he shot very fast and very cheap and the result looked just like that. Surprisingly, only four effect sequences stand out from the sea of grey and below average, when the guinea pig and the main character become invisible and regain their appearance, and it doesn't stink of rear projection, only clever use of editing. I like Golden Age sci-fi B-movies, but this one has too much verbal filler that doesn't move the plot anywhere. And so the most interesting thing is just the naive period ad campaign warning of a real invisible escaped convict, who was supposedly found at several cinema screenings, with the addition that people should beware :o) (19.07.2016)