THE INVISIBLE MAN APPEARS (1949)
Some films only exist today as historical curiosities. Take The Invisible Man Appears, for example. It was never released stateside until Arrow Video saved it from certain obscurity by issuing a posh Blu-ray in 2021. Considered the first science fiction film made in Japan, Invisible Man deftly utilizes tokusatsu effects engendered, in part, by Eiji Tsuburaya. Kaiju fans will recognize that name. Tsuburaya helped pioneer special techniques that would later be employed to stage elephantine battles between Godzilla and other giant monsters. Speaking of which, this little conversation piece was produced by Daiei Film, the studio responsible for the Gamera series. Okay, so I've given you plenty of background information. Is Invisible Man worth tracking down?
The bulk of the picture operates around a knotty, near-Gordion jewel heist. A batch of indistinguishable thugs kidnap a scientist in the hope of furtively using his untested invisibility agent to plunder a diamond necklace. I guess it's interesting if you really enjoyed Ocean's Thirteen, but I yawned through a lot of the procedural build-up. Admittedly, the visuals are eerie. It's easy to spot where director Nobuo Adachi was influenced by American genre trappings, most notably Universal's own translucent monster. At the end of the day, The Invisible Man Appears isn't terribly compelling. There is a sequel - 1957's The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly. I doubt that I'll watch it, but you're more than welcome to give it a try.
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