alexanderdavies-99382 "The Invisible Ray" is a well crafted horror/sci fi film that features Boris Karloff in a new early Mad Scientist role and he plays it well. Bela Lugosi is cast against type as the good and honest character who attempts to help Karloff when his experiments go badly wrong (don't they always?)The subplot is a tiresome waste of time and should have been left out of the screenplay.The special effects for 1936 are very good.

Rainey Dawn A good and interesting older sci-fi film. I love the idea of finding a cure for blindness but this particular fictitious form of radium called Radium X also has it's dark side if it falls into the wrong hands (as we see in the film). This movie is a grim reminder that scientific discoveries in real life (as well as in the movies) can be used for good but it can be used for bad/evil if one uses that way.Great film for fans of the science fiction genre. It tells the story of Dr. Janos Rukh (Karloff) who discovered the (fictitious) Radium X, is exposed to the poison and becomes a murderous maniac against the scientists and supporters of the expedition were the Radium X was found.7.5/10

DarthVoorhees Karloff and Lugosi together again? Sign me up. The problem here is that we get a very silly film for our titans to bring to life. We can tell that the Carl Laemmle horror cycle has run out of ideas. This plot plays like a really silly atomic horror film made twenty or so years too early. There just isn't much horror in this film and the characters aren't that interesting besides for Lugosi's Dr. Benet.Karloff is probably playing the weakest character he got during the golden age of Universal horror. His motivations are really just super silly and without any sort of gravitas to them. He exists like one of the silliest James Bond mad scientists who wants to destroy and spread chaos because the plot dictates that he must. Karloff's performance also feels really phoned in. He doesn't seem to want to really delve into this character. There just seems to be a real lack of conviction which one doesn't expect from Karloff. Maybe if the stakes were raised I might care more. Much of the horror here is implied. Dr.Rukh's laser is just a macguffin and a rather boring one when we don't see what is there. Also, the film seems to suggest the radiation drives Rukh mad but Rukh just seems sinister and silly the entire film.Lugosi is good as a hero. I kind of really like him in this role. He's a lot of fun as a hero and generally is really in tune with this world. Karloff just doesn't give him a lot in return. I think back to the 'Black Cat' and the 'The Raven' where there is genuine chemistry based on a hate for each other. Karloff doesn't give Lugosi anything and so the film just kind of drags when Lugosi isn't there and even when he is it is kind of anti-climactic. I wish the film had gone much much darker. 'The Black Cat' and 'The Raven' were much better films because they were really dark and defied the Hollywood code. I was really hoping the kind of sexual subplot that was in those films would be relevant here but neither Karloff or Lugosi are interested in our leading lady who has possibly the worst male love interest in all of the Universal horrors. The idea of a radioactive charged rape is really twisted and rather brilliant, too bad they weren't smart enough to go into that.

preppy-3 Prof. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) discovers Radium X--a powerful force to be used for atomic power. Unfortunately Rukh has been contaminated by the Radium and starts to glow in the dark--and his touch causes instant death. Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi) develops an antidote--but Rukh starts to go mad due to the Radium AND the antidote and sets out to kill all he believed wronged him.The plot is silly and the "effects" that make Karloff glow in the dark are laughable, but this is still a fun little chiller. It moves quickly, has some great atmosphere (notice Rukh's "house" and the movie starts on a dark and rainy night) and Karloff and Lugosi (as always) give great performances. There is also good acting by Franic Drake (as Rukh's wife) and Violet Kemble Cooper (as his mother). So it's OK but just a notch below all the other Karloff/Lugosi movies. The plot is just too far-fetched for me to swallow. Still I did like this. I give it a 7.