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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Just Another Invisible Man, February 22, 2006
I have no clue knowing how many movies have been made about invisible people. However, most of them have been a waste of time. This 1976 movie falls in the category of time waster, though it does feature a stellar cast.
Roger Sands (Frank Ashmore) is a convicted killer sitting in prison. Roger has developed his mental powers so that he can do miraculous things, like turning mattresses upside down, knocking a gun from a person's hand, and (surprise!) turning invisible. After watching this movie, I realize that turning invisible is a good talent to have in prison.
Roger uses a "Star Trek" sparkly effect to make himself invisible one day, and then promptly escapes from prison. Soon Roger is having a good time killing women who look like his mother, and any men who get in his way. Lt. Charles Barrett (Robert Foxworth) has been assigned to investigate the murders. Barrett has a really active role in this movie. He runs around a lot and puts up with his goofy wife Candy (Stefanie Powers). Actually, Barrett could have been absent for most of the movie, but he is the character the director decided to use as the protagonist. He does survive Roger Sands and Candy, so perhaps he was a good choice.
In all the running about we see Elke Sommer, Queenie Smith ("Foul Play" and numerous other roles), Robert Hoy and numerous other well-known character actors. The movie is filled with experienced acting talent. Unfortunately, all the acting talent struggles to make anything of this movie. The acting is frequently overdone, and often reminds me of a comedy I once saw where the actors were supposed to "emote."
There were moments in this movie that seemed to make no sense at all. For example, when Sands goes on a yacht in scuba gear, why is he visible when he has been invisible for most of the movie? When Sands comes out of the ocean a short time later, he turns himself and his scuba gear invisible, so I know he could do it.
The movie also uses an ultra-cheesy effect to let you know when Sands is using his power; Sands' eyes have lights animated on them. Gee, it was so nice to have those annoying lights with the funky sound effects to match to let me know when Sands was using his power. I was unable to tell when the books, mattress and guns were flying around. Speaking of annoyance, Lt. Charles Barrett's sidekick (Detective Hill I believe, played by Mark Slade) kept clicking his pen. I wanted to smack his sidekick, and then I wanted to smack Barrett for letting him click that pen.
The only bright spot in this movie was Stefanie Powers. She stole every scene she was in, and laid the groundwork for her role in "Hart to Hart" and other shows. I would watch this movie again just to watch her.
This movie, which has gone under the titles "The Astral Factor" and "Invisible Stranger: The Astral Factor," is just not worth watching unless you are a fan of invisible people movies or Stefanie Powers. Everyone else will find that this movie adds little to the horror or science fiction genres.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I Paid 50c For This and I Still Feel I Was Ripped Off!, September 4, 2007
This is easily the worst invisible man movie ever made. In fact it would be up there competing for the worst movie of any topic ever made. I'm a hug fan of the invisible man genre (I've got two Listmania lists going on these stories) and there also seems to be a lot of other people out there who are as well. This movie is a disgrace to the invisibility genre though, don't waste your money. You can get this movie with nine other low budget movies (released through Payless, which you can buy in many a $2 dollar store in Australia and maybe elsewhere) for $4.95. That makes this movie 49 and a half cents but seriously it is not worth that money, I very much have buyers remorse after purchasing this.
Pathetic special effects and acting mean we don't really see anything you normally do in an invisible man movie. The directors just took the lazy approach and had the actor victims pretending they were being choked in performances where a five year old could act better. There's no items in the vicinity getting knocked over by no one that the eye can see or anything like this during the murders. A few vases get thrown at the cops but you only see their bases before their thrown. These actors obviously had none of the clearing a building scene with weapons drawn training that police have given the actors in every other police movie. It's amazing these police weren't killed by visible bad guys before they got this case. Not that the invisible man makes much of an appearance in this more about a cop whose girl wants him to get a job with better hours storyline.
How annoying is the background score and sound effects? I think they put the whole budget into making the movie's poster and had nothing left to spend on the film.
If you are wondering what the plot to this movie is all about it is basically; a guy is mentally abused by his mother who never wanted him and definitely never wanted her friends to see him. He snaps and strangles her one day and spends his days reading self help books in prison. A prison guard rips up his books and gives him a good backhand when he tries to hit him for doing so which seems to push him over the edge. Now we are left to assume he got the knowledge to become invisible from these books because there's no other reason given but the next minute he's invisible and escaped from prison. Women who testified against him are being strangled and the police put out all efforts to stop his rampage.
There's plenty of great invisible man movies out there, give this a miss and get one of those instead!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
When you're invisible cheesy organ music plays, September 22, 2007
That way everyone knows you are coming.
Formula movie as part the 50 Movie Pack Sci-Fi Classics DVD collections. Yes I know it is just another invisible strangler movie (title: The Astral Factor).
The story is of a deranged killer that has to kill any one the looks like his mother. To look like his mother all you have to do is look female and be in the tabloids. He was well pinned in a maximum security nut house until he discovered astral projection and other Para-psychic phenomenon. On the loose and invisible (don't we wish we all were) he is free to do the deed with impunity. However hot on his trail is Lt. Charles Barrett who suspects he is up against something more than your standard nutter.
The only redeeming value of this movie is the many actors that were not quite over the hill at the time this movie was made yet were persuaded to take part:
Robert Foxworth as Lt. Charles Barrett (The Questor Tapes (TV movie) - Questor)
Stefanie Powers as Candy Barrett (Paper Man (TV movie) - Karen McMillan)
Elke Sommer as Chris Hartman (A Shot in the Dark - Maria Gambrelli)
"The Questor Tapes" Starring: Robert Foxworth, Mike Farrell
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