Grade: D
Synopsis: The discovery of a radioactive meteor by a pair of scientists (Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi) leads to deadly consequences.
Considering the studio and star power behind it, The Invisible Ray is a disappointment. Universal Pictures takes their two biggest horror stars, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and puts them into a talky sci-fi clunker that never gets off the ground.
Karloff and Lugosi both try their best, but the film saddles them with a dull script even their combined presence can’t overcome. Further, while it’s a nice change of pace to see Lugosi as the good guy, the roles should have been reversed, with Lugosi as the crazed Hungarian scientist, and Karloff as his somewhat skeptical rival. Granted, it wouldn’t have helped much, but at least then you’d have an actual Hungarian playing the Hungarian part.
The problem with The Invisible Ray is that it lacks any genuine thrills or chills. Even at only 80 minutes, this film drags, and the big special effect, a glow-in-the-dark Karloff, looks laughable even by 1930’s standards. Interestingly, the glowing Karloff effect would reappear almost 30 years later in the similar Die, Monster, Die! (1966), with similar results.
Bottom Line: Despite the Universal label, and the presence of stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, The Invisible Ray is a dud.
