The Invisible Ray (1936)

In another Gothic castle on a mountaintop far far away, Boris Karloff is busy exploring the stars, searching for the secrets of the planets and what created the earth's core. He knows many gasses make up the earth's core, and in one discovery, gets to witness the big bang from millenniums before. Sharing this with disbelieving scientific guests, he convinces them to take him with them on a journey to Africa where he discovers "Radium X", a gas which turns him into "the touching killer" when it gets too deeply embedded in him. Bela Lugosi is along for the ride, but don't you dare call him "sidekick".This isn't as good as the two previous Karloff/Lugosi co-starrers, and even with a fine supporting cast, it ranks low on the totem pole of Universal fantasy/sci-fi/horror, at least amongst the ones released in the 1930's. Beulah Bondi is present as one of the scientists, guilty in Karloff's mind of pairing his estranged wife (Frances Drake) with another scientist (Frank Lawton). Violet Kemble Cooper, who resembles an older Dame Judith Anderson (and even sounds like her), gives a very melodramatic performance as Karloff's aging blind mother, crippled after assisting her son in one of his experiments.As for Lugosi, he's a total good guy here, out to aid Karloff who in a lucid moment seeks his help in finding a cure. There's one shocking moment where Lugosi refers to a sick African child as an unfortunate creature. Footage of this with Karloff in the head gear was later used for Lugosi's character in the campy serial "The Phantom Creeps". The film's horror doesn't come from the deaths here, but from the actual prediction that the earth is filled with such materials which was almost a decade before the bombing of Japan and the beginning of the nuclear age. For that, this is actually a film of foresight in which the fear might make you think what else exists out there that could destroy mankind.

Perhaps The Invisible Ray isn't a great film, but there is much to enjoy still. The story is a little predictable, while the supporting characters are underdeveloped and not very interesting and I'm not sure whether some of the scientific ideas, while innovative at the time, are as easy to grasp or as relevant now as it was. These are just personal preferences though, and The Invisible Ray was still enjoyable even with those personal reservations. It is a very nice-looking film, original at the time and holds up now, with a great Gothic atmosphere, beautifully constructed sets and nicely done special effects(even from a present-day perspective). The photography fits with the mood very well as well. The Invisible Ray is atmospherically scored, the script is literate and the film moves quickly with few pacing lulls. The directing from Lambert Hillyer is efficient and neatly set-up, I also detected a little bit of a James Whale influence which I liked. There are some actors who don't really distinguish themselves in roles that don't really allow for them to shine properly. Frances Drake and Violet Kemble-Cooper are good though, while the top-notch performances of genre masters Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are the film's best asset. I do prefer their performances and chemistry in The Black Cat, but what really makes them worth watching here is how effortlessly charismatic they are and how they are in roles that actually suit them and their acting skills. In conclusion, very entertaining with great lead performances from Karloff and Lugosi. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Universal Pictures teamed their two titans of terror once again in The Invisible Ray. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi teamed many times, not always in the best of films. But this one is carried along on the strength of both men.Karloff and Lugosi are a pair of scientists, Karloff regarded as a quack and Lugosi considered one of the best. Lugosi is one of several people invited to Karloff's home for a demonstration of the power of his new telescope which plots the origin of a meteor that originated in the Andromeda nebula. The meteor landed in Africa and Karloff wants in on an expedition that Walter Kingsford and Beulah Bondi are planning with Lugosi. Of course Boris goes to Africa and discovers the fragments which he labels as Radium X, one hundred times more powerful than the stuff Marie Curie and her husband Pierre discovered. But what eventually killed them gets a hold of Boris and he becomes poisonous to the touch. Lugosi finds an AZT like antidote, which controls the symptoms. But the stuff eventually reaches Karloff's brains with some nasty results all around.Karloff plays his usual well meaning scientist whose experiments go terribly awry, he did that in any number of films and the Citadel Film series book on his films says that this was the first time he essayed that type of character. But Lugosi was cast far more offbeat. He's the good guy in this, you could almost say he was a Van Helsing type character up against sinister evil.The Invisible Ray shows both of the Universal stars to good advantage. Later on when they worked together or apart at poverty row studios the results were not as good as The Invisible Ray.

Karloff and Lugosi together again? Sign me up. The problem here is that we get a very silly film for our titans to bring to life. We can tell that the Carl Laemmle horror cycle has run out of ideas. This plot plays like a really silly atomic horror film made twenty or so years too early. There just isn't much horror in this film and the characters aren't that interesting besides for Lugosi's Dr. Benet.Karloff is probably playing the weakest character he got during the golden age of Universal horror. His motivations are really just super silly and without any sort of gravitas to them. He exists like one of the silliest James Bond mad scientists who wants to destroy and spread chaos because the plot dictates that he must. Karloff's performance also feels really phoned in. He doesn't seem to want to really delve into this character. There just seems to be a real lack of conviction which one doesn't expect from Karloff. Maybe if the stakes were raised I might care more. Much of the horror here is implied. Dr.Rukh's laser is just a macguffin and a rather boring one when we don't see what is there. Also, the film seems to suggest the radiation drives Rukh mad but Rukh just seems sinister and silly the entire film.Lugosi is good as a hero. I kind of really like him in this role. He's a lot of fun as a hero and generally is really in tune with this world. Karloff just doesn't give him a lot in return. I think back to the 'Black Cat' and the 'The Raven' where there is genuine chemistry based on a hate for each other. Karloff doesn't give Lugosi anything and so the film just kind of drags when Lugosi isn't there and even when he is it is kind of anti-climactic. I wish the film had gone much much darker. 'The Black Cat' and 'The Raven' were much better films because they were really dark and defied the Hollywood code. I was really hoping the kind of sexual subplot that was in those films would be relevant here but neither Karloff or Lugosi are interested in our leading lady who has possibly the worst male love interest in all of the Universal horrors. The idea of a radioactive charged rape is really twisted and rather brilliant, too bad they weren't smart enough to go into that.