Despite its shortcomings, "The Amazing Transparent Man" is smarter and better than most of the cheap sci-fi films you can find in your average movie bargain bin. It has an interesting premise, original characters and at just under an hour, it moves quickly so you won't be bored. There's some sci-fi mumbo jumbo to explain the invisibility, some pretty laughable special effects, but you can tell there was some effort put into this. The special effects aren't always awful either, I'd say most of the time they're passable. The ending is where the movie really shines, which is what makes up for the rough spots. If you're at all curious about this one or if you are a fan of these older quickie sci-fi flicks, this is one of the better ones. If you're not one of the connoisseurs though, I don't know if there's going to be anything here for you. (Dvd, September 20, 2012)

Public enemy number one can't be seen to be believed. He gets out of prison through default (escaping!) and joins up with a gang of amoral scientists who want to use him as a part of a bank robbery ring. What could have been an update of the type of science fiction film that Boris Karloff had made twenty years before ends up being a mediocre crime drama with little excitement. A "B" cast includes 1940 starlet Marguerite Chapman playing. An aging femme fatale as if she was locked into the 1940 definition of a film noir bad girl. The only memorable element of this is an old man dying from uranium poisoning and the regret he has for the way his life turned out.

Plot—a mad scientist frees a safecracker from prison to help him put together an army of invisible men, which he can then sell for big money!So what's in a title. Apparently, a lot since the "Amazing Transparent Man" lowers expectations to near empty. Sounds like a teenage drive-in special where kids didn't care what's on screen as long as there's a dark place to park. But then there's the Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) whose goofy title may have consigned it to the teenage circuit, yet also turned out to be not just suspenseful but surprisingly sublime. So I guess you can't always tell the book by its cover.Anyway, looks to me like this horror flick was aiming at Shrinking Man type transcendence, but doesn't get it; and that's despite Dr. Ulof's philosophical ponderings. Unfortunately, the script just never gels into anything suspenseful. Mostly it meanders around the laboratory- mansion, instead. Director Ulmer does keep things moving, so at least the pace doesn't drag. Still, the narrative is too loose to build anything like tension or suspense. Then too, the production is pretty shoddy at points that other reviewers have ably detailed. On the other hand, movie vets Kennedy and Chapman are energetic enough. At least, they don't appear to treat this as just an easy payday. Plus, I did enjoy seeing Ivan Triesault (Dr.Ulof) as something other than the Nazi stereotype that he was usually consigned to. Still, I'm afraid this movie is an instance where-- all in all-- the book is told by its cover.

Netflix did the honor of suggesting I would like this 'Gem" based on my recently watching The Invisible Man - With Claude Rains which was made in 1933 - I was eager to see this to see what was going to be different or new in the last 27 years of Hollywood special effects. My favorite effect was when Faust said "I'll have to jump out" and the car shakes - so they don't have to worry about the car door opening. I know someone might say that the door opening would look suspicious - well so would a bouncing car ! I thought the best use of something turning invisible was the guinea pig -and I thought the whole 9 yards of flipping all the switches each and every time they turned him invisible was just about snore worthy. The People who say this is a fun romp of b-rated movies from the time, really must not have seen a lot of movies from the time. the music is generic. the sets are boring. the actors are wooden. and the first 45 mins of the hour long movie is the set up. which happens very slowly. in short, I am left to wonder if this movie was just as terrible when it was first shown at drive ins or if I just expect more due to the mass amounts of movies / shows (since its only an hour) today. Honestly I would believe it if I was told this movie is the reason drive ins started to die off.