A rash of unexplained murders has left the police baffled. Turns out they are being committed by a killer who can shrink himself down to the size of a housefly. A scientist working on an invisible ray decides the only way to catch the killer is to make himself invisible.
The big problem with The Invisible Man vs. the Human Fly is that the two titular adversaries feel like they belong in separate pictures. The invisibility stuff is slightly different than the traditionally accepted lore as scientists zap rays at test subjects to make them “imperceptible”. (Personally, I prefer the old wrapped-in-bandages variety.) The Human Fly scenes are slightly better, but the goofy tone of these sequences run against the grain of the serious mood created elsewhere in the picture. I also couldn’t help but be disappointed that the “Human Fly” is closer to Ant-Man than Al Hedison. At least the effects of him being shrunk down are good for a laugh.
Another issue is the pacing as the back and forth between the plot lines slows things down immensely. The first act gets incredibly bogged down as the detective scenes are perfunctory at best. The third act is really draggy once the Human Fly threatens the city by hiding a bomb. The finale also loses points since there isn’t a traditional mano y mano fight between the two opposing wonders of modern science as it all ends with a boring shootout.
There are moments here where fun threatens to break out. It’s in these fleeting passages where you can really see the film’s potential, which kind of makes it sting even more. We get a great dance routine where a sexy Japanese gal in fishnets shakes so much, she becomes in danger of spilling out of her tiny bra! Later, there’s a fun bit where the Human Fly spies on her while she’s lounging in her dressing room. Unbeknownst to her, he runs along her bare midriff while she practices her next number.
Sadly, scenes like that are more the exception than the rule. Like The Invisible Man Appears, the movie plays a lot like a crime film with Sci-Fi elements. Even with a potentially fun third act that features multiple Human Flies and invisible people running around, it still somehow manages to be pretty dull.
AKA: The Invisible Human vs. the Fly Man. AKA: The Transparent Man vs. the Fly Man.
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