A 57 minute adventure that has everything from prison breaks, to atomic sciences, from plans of world domination to kidnap with a bit of domestic violence and a squirt of post-war propaganda.
Joey Faust, safe-cracker. We meet this rugged crim in the opening scenes as he is busting out of prison and dodging search light cliches on the way to a parked car that is waiting for him.
"Zihuatenejo, here I come."
Laura, sexy stooge. There to meet Faust in a very cool chevrolet, has been arranged to deliver the newly escaped convict to a gentleman we have yet to meet - but don't worry, you will... and he's a real arsehole. Before they can get to where they need to be, Laura has to bullshit her way past a police roadblock. She passes Faust off as her unconcious alchoholic husband returning from a party. A story which satisfies the fuzz and they continue on.
"Yes officer, he is a pissed wanker."
The following morning, they arrive at the ranch.
Faust is introduced to Major Frank Kreener, a jaded retiree from an unspecified government body. He needs from Faust the skills that put him in the slammer in the first place. His safe-breaking and lock picking skills. Knowing full well that if Joey sticks his nose near a bank, the cops would be all over him like a hot flannel. But its not a bank job that the Major wants Faust for. It's to retrieve "fissionable material" that they need to fuel the experiments we're about to find out about. Unfortunately for Faust, he has no choice but to do the thieving, because the dirt that Kreener has on him means he's essentially got Faust firmly by the grapes. Told you he's an arse-head.
He gets worse.
Oh yeah, Major Jerk also has a henchman. An under-and-over gun toting yokel called Julian that runs errands for him.
"What in tarnation?"
Ok, lets head up stairs and see what's crackin'...
"And this is where we keep the sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads."
A fully kitted out lab with it's own non-specific country of origin, but clearly European, nuclear scientist packed into the attic of the house. That's Major Kreener in the middle. Doctor Ulof (left) fled his country at the end of World War 2 with his daughter. He was a brilliant scientist, but decided on a change of career once fled to America. Kreener however, with his spy-like ways, tracked down and "convinced" the Doc into working for him. You see, much like Faust, Ulof's grapes are also firmly in the grip of Kreener; his daughter is being held prisoner in the next room.
The experiments being conducted use, "X-ray, alpha, beta, omega rays and ultraviolet, combining them and filtering out elements that would hinder our operations." But what does that mean to a yardbird like Faust? Or the viewer in fact? Well step into the lead lined room of safety and watch in amazement as Doctor Ulof - after turing and flicking an unnecessarily high number of knobs - makes a hamster disappear right before his beady eyes.
"Eek! Ma skellingtons showing!"
Invisibility. Able to be switched on and off like a tap. It does mean you have to be exposed to the machines radiation, but Ulof gives us an unconvincing assurance that the levels are low enough as to not have any lingering effects on the subject. Anyway, it was proved safe by bringing Hammy the Hamster back into the visible spectrum with no obvious signs of foaming dog fever.
Reasonably convinced and with no real choice in the matter, Faust agrees to swipe the batch of radioactive material the following evening. This time though, said material is of a different variety. X-13 in fact. A stronger yet untested medium thought to be more reliable. It's also something that Ulof refuses to test on a human subject. Particularly since X-13 is highly unstable if inadvertantly exposed to the rays of the machine - something to keep in mind.
Locked in a room for the night, Faust tricks Julian into being knocked out and tied up. He pulled the old, "I'm-pretending-to-be-asleep-and-that-noise-you're-hearing-is-actually-me-luring-you-into-the-locked-room-so-I-can-club-you", routine. How many times have we seen that one?
With Julian out cold, Faust heads up stairs to bust through the door that holds the Doc's daughter. He gets caught by the Doc, and this is actually where you're told the story about him fleeing the war. As he's revealing all of this, they are both busted by Laura. Gun in hand she shoos them back down stairs. With Kreener out of ear-shot and Julian dribbling onto the floor in the next room, Joey tries to bargain with Laura. Something that she considers. A chance to get out of her situation. A fresh start. Unfortunately, Julian with his gun in hand once again, heard their plan but is easily convinced he's also being shafted by the Major... or was he?
No. The next morning, Major Kreener meets Laura in the lounge for the first time.
"Eeeeeeeee...ya!"
Bosh! Right in the face. I jumped as much as I think Laura probably did. Julian blabbed basically. The radioactice material theft was still on, and the plans were to continue, but not before Kreener gives Laura another whack in the chops.
Faust is strapped to the lab table and the machine positioned. Doc and Kreener retreat into the safe room and press the go button. In a crackle of electricity, Faust vanishes in a pretty cool display of film trickery.
"Ma boidiful face!"
Faust, now only a voice, is represented on screen by doors opening and closing by themselves and the others acting directly to camera and/or pretending to be beaten up and strangled.
"My invisible sandwich is trying to eat meeee!"
Shit, I need to speed this up a bit. Prepare to fast forward!
Clear Faust heads to the nuclear holding facility, breezes past two guards, opens the safe and walks out with the gear. The in-camera effects of Faust being invisible was cool. From the car rocking by itself when he climbs out, doors and panels opening and closing, to the batch of radiation he nicked being walked out of the building.
Now an actual bank job. Cash. Cash to be used to get out of town and make a new start. Newly dosed up on X-13, Laura drives Faust to the bank where he makes an invisible withdrawl.
"I'm not in the car yet you silly tart... come back!"
Oh oh, the unstable nature of X-13 drops Faust in the shit on the way out of the bank. The cloak wears off and he is identified.
"I'm just trying to get ahead in life..."
His body returns soon after and he and Laura scarper back to the ranch with the dosh. They stop just before arriving to plan thier next move. But!
"Ah, feck"
Since he's now uncontrollably dipping in and out of visibility, Faust decides to dump Laura and make his own way. Back in the lab, Kreener reveals his ultimate plan. An invisible army. Perfecting the technique and selling it to the highest bidder didn't sit well with Doctor Ulof. Again, he is brought round by being reminded that the fate of his daughter depends on his conforming. The daughter is brought out of the room - questionably unperturbed by her ordeal. Before the next line of the script is uttered, Major Kreener makes an sudden and unexpected jolt towards the door.
It was too hard to capture as a frame, because it happened so fast. All you'd end up seeing was an interlaced blur.
"Surprise bitches!"
It was Joey Faust. Snuck back in to free the Doc and his daughter from Kreener. Clever bastard. Back down stairs now, Faust and Laura confront Julian. However this time, news of the bullshit the Major has been feeding him all this time is too much for him to take, and he stands down.
"Ah, feck it."
With the Major safely locked away upstairs, they make a break for it. It's now that Doctor Ulof tells Faust that his exposure to the X-13 radiation has given him a month to live. Deciding what to do with those few weeks, the Doc convinces Faust that not stopping the possibility of an invisible army would mean hell on earth. Faust mans up for the final confrontation.
Here's the bullet point verion of the final moments.
• Kreener shoots his way out of the locked room.
• Laura gets shot in the crossfire.
• A punch up starts between Kreener and Faust near the invisibility ray.
"Bosh!"
• The radoactive canisters get shoved closer to the invisibility ray.
• The canisters go under the invisibility ray.
• And makes this happen...
They wipe out the entire surrounding county. Kreener, Laura (dead anyway) and Faust along with it.
Sorry, that was far too long for a 57 minute movie. Still getting back into the groove of it all.
Gadgetry: The lab and the invisibility ray.
Favorite quote: Nothing note worthy this time.
Favorite bit: Again, its the cars. Also the in-camera trickery.
Bottom line: Wasn't awful at all. The effect showing the invisibility process, and the careful set and prop planning to show Faust being invisible was very well done. Although from the title, I though it was going to be more super hero styled. But the mix of cops and robbers and mad science was nice. I'd put this one just above, "The Atomic Brain" - review number 3.
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