THE INVISIBLE ASSASSIN (1965) **

The Invisible Assassin was written by the dynamic team of Rene Cardona Sr. and Rene Cardona Jr., with Sr. handling the directorial duties.  As much as I like the Cardona family, this is not up to snuff with their nuttier works.  It was released in America as Neutron Traps the Invisible Killers, but it doesn’t feature the character of Neutron at all.  Instead, we have “The Golden Mask”, an obvious attempt to cash in on El Santo, the Silver Masked Man if there ever was one.  It’s as if you can hear Cardona saying, “Hey son, why should we have a silver masked man in our film when we can have a GOLDEN masked man?”

A scientist invents an invisibility ray.  A madman uses the ray on himself, kills the doctor, and uh… disappears.  He then goes on a crime spree, robbing banks, stealing cars, and generally causing mayhem wherever he goes.  Eventually, he sets his sights on stalking a sexy nightclub singer.  With the police powerless to find the invisible killer, the Mexican wrestler The Golden Mask arrives on the scene to lend a hand. 

The Invisible Assassin feels more like a vehicle for Ana Bertha Lepe, who plays the nightclub singer (and is apparently playing herself) than a Mexican wrestling movie.  Cardona unwisely concentrates just as much on the nightclub performances as he does the plot.  Lepe’s song and dance numbers eat up a lot of screen time and get in the way of the Mexican wrestling and sci-fi elements.  Of the SEVEN musical numbers, the only dance sequence that’s really memorable is the one where Lepe does a seductive dance in her home.  (She even has a stripper pole installed in her living room!)

Part of the problem is The Golden Mask isn’t given much to do.  You know it’s a shame when the Mexican wrestler has to compete for screen time in his own Mexican wrestling movie.  Another problem is that the part is played by an actor (Jorge Rivero, from Werewolf) and not a real luchador.  That might explain why The Golden Mask is in only one of the three wrestling matches in the film.

The effects are low-tech, but they are surprisingly solid.  The best bits include a POV shot of the invisible man waving a gun at a teller, using lipstick to write a message on a mirror, and removing our hero’s mask when he sneaks into the ring during a wrestling match.  These moments help to keep this otherwise dreary flick from being totally forgettable.  It’s a shame that the ingenuity that was put into the special effects was absent throughout the rest of the movie. 

AKA:  Neutron Traps the Invisible Killers.  AKA:  Man in the Golden Mask vs. The Invisible Assassin.