Faustian Bargain for Invisibility

"The Amazing Transparent Man" is relatively competently made, I suppose, for a rushed B-picture production, although some of the editing is especially bad (a scene by a locked door and the binocular point-of-views, e.g.). Director Edgar G. Ulmer's oeuvre ("The Black Cat" (1934), "Detour" (1945)) had undoubtedly seen better days. The scenario is promisingly absurd but isn't as humorous as one might expect from a film riffed on by "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and one that rips off the book by H.G. Wells to make an atomic-age Invisible Man in league with a German scientist and a madman with designs to create an invisible army. There are a couple dames in the picture, too, for no other reason it seems than to drive the men around or be locked in a room. The Invisible Man's name is "Faust," which would suggest a deal being made with the devil for some sort of short-lived glory--which is kind of what happens here. This Faust is an escaped convict and thief, so invisibility proves to be quite useful to him and the rest of the gang.

The science-y stuff here is generally unoriginal. The lab contains some "Frankenstein" (1931)-like sparking gizmos. Because transparency here is achieved by some sort of atomic ray, I guess, Faust's clothes also become invisible, which is super convenient. There's an appropriately explosive ending, and some of the lines are laughably bad. "There is a man who has unlocked every door except the one to his own soul," for instance. "Now he has the key." To top it off, the German doctor concludes the proceedings by looking into the camera, to ask, "What would you do?"

Personally, I’d try to expand upon more-intelligent "Invisible Man" movies, including the 1933, 1940 and 2020 ones, in interesting ways that exploit the advantages of the visual art form of cinema, but unimaginative, derivative trash like "The Amazing Transparent Man" is an option, too.

(Included in my ranking of Invisible Man movies.)