The Invisible Ray

Moviecut—The Invisible Ray

Boris and Bela do well together in this film,whether they are against each other, or paddling the same boat.I saw this one in 1972, and just purchased it from Borders this year. This time watching it with my children,I took note of 2 things: It held the attention of a 3, 4 and 5 year old; and I caught a few things I hadn't when I first watched it.Very swift story with an unpredictable end. A must for movie buffs!!!

I once heard a comedian do an impression of Boris Karloff bowling, "Watch this one" using that wonderful dialect. Then, of course, there is Lugosi. In this minor horror movie, poor Boris has become poisoned with radiation through his own carelessness and takes it upon himself to revenge himself against all those whom he sees as the cause of this. It is the obsessed mind which is being poisoned ala The Invisible Man, and eventually a trap must be set. There are some nice touches, such as the destruction of the statues to represent each death as it occurs. The ray itself. Professor Rukh wants credit for the work and sees Benet (Lugosi) as the thief. Of course, there is the ending where Karloff must face what he has done. I also enjoyed the method by which they were able to find the source of the killings. However, I have to be honest. My greatest joy comes from listening to those two wonderful voices, voices from out of movie history. "Watch this one."

The so-called "junk science" postulated in THE INVISIBLE RAY came as quite a shock to me: I've maintained since I was a teenager that it might actually be possible to look into the Past in exactly the same way. I'm no scientist (far from it), but the notion of Light traveling away from a star that no longer exists still being visible to us, here and now, makes the argument at least plausible. MY theory (such as it is) would require traveling to the point in Space at which the Earth was first "touched" by the aforementioned Starlight to observe Past Events. Sound shaky? Plausible? At any rate, THE INVISIBLE RAY was a most pleasant surprise. Highly recommended.

With a special telescope, Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) successfully proves that years ago a meteorite landed in Africa containing an unknown, but extremely powerful element. Dr. Benet(Bela Lugosi) form an expedition led by Rukh to locate the element. Unexpectedly, Rukh discovers "Radium X,", even more powerful than radium and very radioactive and Karloff becomes contaminated and can kill anyone by just touching them. The sparks really fly between Lugosi and Karloff in this classic science-fiction film during the post-World War II era. Director Hillyer used a few standing sets from "FLASH GORDON" series which was being filmed at the same time and also inserted some footage of electrical machines from Frankenstein. Universal kept the public unaware of the special effects being used in this great classic film. Karloff and Lugosi were at their very best and they both enjoyed working together and will be enjoyed by future generations.

The Invisible Ray is an exciting story about an overworked scientist who works effortlessly in his Carpathian castle looking for secrets of the universe. Boris Karloff plays the scientist Janos Ruhk who travels with a band of other scientists to Africa for the spot where an unidentified element landed centuries ago. Karloff is very good as the scientist who accidentally poisons himself with this new radioactive element. Karloff is obsessed with the idea that his fellow travelers, amongst them the stately Lugosi as Dr. Benet, are after his honors and secrets of this new find. Because of this, Karloff goes on a maniacal murdering spree of his former friends. There are many good elements in this film, most dealing with the rather interesting story of science gone amok. Lugosi is good too, although his role is not very big. I must agree with many that this pairing of the horrific duo is a second to The Black Cat. Nonetheless this is a fine Universal science fiction/horror film.

THE INVISIBLE RAY is a highly enjoyable horror film that seems way ahead of its time, coming as it does in 1936 and making use of meteors and Radium X in its plot design. BORIS KARLOFF is the scientist whose ideas are "stolen", or so he believes, by others and goes about seeking an unusual method of revenge, killing off his intended victims one by one. FRANK LAWTON and FRANCES DRAKE are the romantic leads with BEULAH BONDI playing an aristocratic Lady Arabella who is one of the victims. But the film is mainly a showcase for BORIS KARLOFF as the mad scientist, with BELA LUGOSI doing extremely well (and underplaying effectively) the role of a colleague among those on the "victim" list. Universal obviously planned this as a low-budget feature, but the sets are impressive, all the technical credits are more than adequate, and the story is well-paced and effective throughout. Well worth viewing and certainly one of the better Karloff/Lugosi joint ventures.