"The Invisible Man Appears!".... Japanese horror/mystery film review part two

 

 Release Date: September 25, 1949  Length: 82 minutes. think there is an unreleased 87 min. version but only available in Japan. This film was not released on DVD in America until 2021

Director and screenwriter: Nobuo Adachi.... Special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya

Subs by Mashhamid, there was a 1954 sequel but none of this cast appeared in it.

 The longer this blog goes on the older the dramas and movies have been getting but this isn't the oldest one as a 1947 movie was reviewed. This film was released in 1949 which was barely four years after the war had ended, the movie industry back then was still trying to get back on it's feet. You could tell the budget for this movie was extremely low but then again bet all were until about 1952, However the stories/plots for these older movies were still top notch and that was the case for this very intriguing and interesting movie. Hate to call it a horror flick as there was very little of it but it was suspenseful and this may have been the very first semi-horror Japanese film after the war. This post is the first of two reviews, the next post has the second part and will try to find out some info about older horror films from Japan and whether this may have been the first. Did find a little info which is after this screenshot.

 There weren't too many older Japanese horror flicks prior to 1954. That's the year Godzilla was released, while more of a sci-fi film in a way it also was terrifying. Two years later is when horror movies began to come out on a more consistent schedule and have a strong feeling after the war for the citizens of Japan horror was a genre they had already lived through. But in the same year this film was released(1949) was "The Ghost of Yotsuya" which I have heard of but have never viewed.  It was a two part movie in 1949, then in 1956 and 1959 two more films were released that continued the story. Do have a pair of other ancient horror film reviews coming up so perhaps after those will check out those 'Yotsuya' films. 

 Main Cast: The first four pics were promo ones for the movie, right above is a screenshot and obviously you won't be seeing much of the Invisible Man! For such a low budget movie the quality of the film was decent, especially as I think this was from a VHS rip as the DVD of this movie was never released outside of Japan until 2021. Think many known stars were in this movie and though I do know so many older Japanese actors don't know any of main characters which is often a good thing as I may discover some under the radar films they appeared in. The location of this movie was in Kobe, the Nakazato Lab was in the hills overlooking the city.

Mikiharu Koshina as Shunji Kurokawa.... He's also the Invisible Man!!!! Kurokawa was a man in his young thirties who worked and studied at the Nakazato Chemical Research Institute, so don't the next two characters. Kurokawa was very intelligent and had been working on a formula to make a person transparent but hasn't quite developed it. When he became invisible it was from a creation that his mentor Nakazato developed and will explain much more about it in the review. Kurokawa was single but had his sights set on Nakazato's daughter Machiko but so didn't the character below, who would win this 'competition'?

Daijiro Natsukawa as Kyosuke Segi.... Like Kurokawa Segi also worked and studied at the Nakazato Chemical Research Institute. Segi was quite intelligent but it seemed that Kurokawa may be a bit smarter, both adore Nakazato's daughter Machiko but it appears she may end up with Kurokawa though she likes Segi much more. In hopefully not a huge spoiler after Kurokawa became invisible it really appeared as though Segi would be the hero by developing an antidote to make him normal again but that didn't happen.

Ryunosuke Tsukigata as Kenzo Nakazato.... A noted professor who obviously ran the Nakazato Chemical Research Institute, he's had many students in the past but Nakazato felt the above two were his best ever. He was able to create a potion for invisibility but to date had only used it on small animals such as mice and cats. Nakazato hadn't tried it on humans, he knew it would work but the problem was he had no way to make anything visible again!!!! Because of that Nakazato has kept his potion secret though one person did know who was Kawabe, him stealing the formula from Nakazato is the main story, The professor is the father of the next character who is his daughter Machiko, like all of the other main characters there will be much more about him in the two posts.

Chizuru Kitagawa as Machiko Nakazato.... Daughter of the above man and would say she's in her late twenties. Machiko still lives at home with her father, younger sister and her mother Toshiko who we rarely saw. There was a 'competition' between Kurokawa and Segi, the person that could finish their creation first would get to marry Machiko! It appeared Kurokawa was on his way to winning, Machiko did like him but Segi much more and below Machiko is on the left.

Shosaku Sugiyama as Ichiro Kawabe.... Owner of a huge pharmaceutical company though in the end it was discovered that was a sham front. Will say what an underhanded creep he was and that's putting it very mildly! It was Kawabe who stole the formula for invisibility from Nakazato and also kidnapped him. Kawabe also had a small group of thugs who kidnapped Kurokawa too but he wasn't aware that he was being held 'hostage' and was tricked into trying to steal a valuable jewel for Kawabe. 

Takiko Mizunoe as Ryuko Mizuki.... What a famous actress Takiko was and didn't pass away until 2009 when she was 94 in age! If you have time check out her Ja.wiki bio and that may be the longest one I've ever seen! In this movie Ryuko was also a popular actress plus was the younger sister of Shunji Kurokawa but don't know why they had different last names. Ryuko was also close friends with the below woman Kimiko and bailed her out twice when her valuable jewel was about to be stolen.

Teruko Omi as Kimiko Chosokabe..... Owner of that above necklace/jewel which is called Amour Tears, she had an offer in this movie from a jewelry store to buy it for 5 million yen! Kimiko refused but later on was going to sell it to Kawabe for 8 million yen(!) but it was all a ruse. Kimiko had a bodyguard/manager named Hatanaka who was murdered and don't have any clue how she was so wealthy or even if she was.

Mitsuabaro Ramon as Matsubara.... Lead investigator for the case of searching for the Invisible Man. It wasn't a large role but Matsubara was very key to the story, at first discovering that the invisibility plans had been stolen and then nabbing the culprit Kawabe.

 That's it for the major characters which I guess is a lot for an 82 minute film. of course there were a few others but none played an important role. Below is a trailer for the movie which is a different than the one in the first post and think this is better. Back in the late 1940's and fifties many trailers also featured some outtake clips from the movie, this video did as about half of what you will view is in the movie while the other half were outtakes.

 

 Thanks for reading part one and it is essential to have done that. Have no clue if this post will be longer(it was) but for an 82 minute film much did take place and decided not to give this movie a grade. To me it was a very enjoyable, intriguing and interesting film so what does it matter if it gets a 8.5 or 8.8 out of ten? It doesn't so if you're like me and like older films then do highly recommend this, not that I'm a prude or anything but much prefer movies without a lot of vulgarity and gore plus enjoy films where the characters can talk intelligently which is seldom these days. Up next for reviews will be the 1954 film "The Invisible Man", the title is almost the same but the movie is completely different though haven't viewed it yet. Then will go back and wrap up the superb 1966 drama "Ultra Q" and then start up on a few more older horror films. Those seem to be much more popular here than Yakuza films, especially Korean horror films so will squeeze a few of them in also.

The first part ended off with the investigator Matsubara discovering that the professor Nakazato had indeed created an Invisibility Serum that worked but had no antidote to make someone visible again. Matsubara had correctly deduced that the devilish Kawabe, who claimed to own a large Pharmaceutical company, is probably behind the disappearance of the professor and is on the hunt for him. Also the first robbery attempt was made on the valuable Amour Tears diamond necklace by the Invisible Man and just who is this person? There is a lot to reveal in the second half of this movie and there was never a dull moment plus I enjoyed the special effects which had to be so much harder to do in 1949. Though I will be calling it an Invisibility Serum the official name to make something invisible was called the Atomina Invisibilitator by professor Nakazato.

 For a while this Amour Tears diamond will be the focus of the movie and perhaps the main story until the end. In the top screenshot is the owner of the valuable diamond necklace Kimiko Chosokabe with her manager/bodyguard Hatanaka. One attempt had been made by the Invisible Man to steal this precious item, once again another try was made in Kimiko's hotel room. Hatanaka tried to protect the woman but to no avail as not being able to see the Invisible Man is such an advantage for him and the bodyguard was strangled to death. But in the commotion so much noise had been made, many staff and guests rushed to Kimoko's room so the Invisible Man once again had to flee empty handed. In the next hotel room was the actress and sister of Kurokawa, Ryuko, who seemed to know Kimiko a bit. She made a fine suggestion which was that she'll guard the Amour Tears diamond which should foil any more attempts. The slimeball Kawabe was furious with the Invisible Man as it's Kawabe making him steal the diamond, why is in the next segment. Kimiko had been offered five million yen for the diamond by a jewelry store, Kawabe met up with Kimiko to make his own offer and Ryuko was in tow with the Amour Tears. It was the first time Kawabe had ever seen and held it, he made an immense offer of eight million yen for it and that's a deal as far as Kimiko goes but knowing Kawabe she won't see a yen!

 To keep suspicion off him Kawabe earlier had told Machiko that Kurokawa had been kidnapped but wasn't sure by who. However by saying that Kawabe did draw suspicion upon himself and Machiko ended up telling his partner at the Nakazato Research Institute Segi about what she learned. Segi and Kurokawa may be 'rivals' at the lab but both are friends and when Segi heard about this bogus kidnapping he knew something wasn't right. With Kurokawa's sister Ryuko and Machiko the trio headed to Kurokawa's apartment to find any kinds of clues but nothing was found. Meanwhile the Kobe newspapers reported on that second aborted robbery of the Amour Tears, a screenshot of that is above and the main suspect continue to be the esteemed professor Nakazato as the police still feel he's the Invisible Man. Want to finish this in three segments so let me start zipping through things, not every detail needs to be explained and have to keep telling myself that. So that deal of Kawabe paying Kimoko eight million yen for the Amour Tears diamond necklace is on, he said that they should make the deal at his villa. The first few screenshots below are of what took place, after passing through a tunnel someone jumped in front of Kawabe's car and who should it be but.... the Invisible Man!!!! Did say that Ryuko was safeguarding the diamond for Kimiko so it was her in the car with Kawabe, the Invisible Man dashed right up to the backdoor and demanded the Amour Tears from her.... or else! 

 It's hard to explain why but viewing this robbery scene you realized it wasn't the real Invisible Man. He dashed off into the woods after getting the diamond but will be talking about him again as this was actually a trap to nab Kawabe which didn't quite work. Ryuko had told Machiko to let the investigator Matsubara of her going to Kawabe's massive villa to make the deal of him buying the Amour Tears diamond for eight million yen. He was a very astute investigator so Matsubara had his men trailing the car though the fake Invisible Man was able to escape. That's the man above and will get to him again very shortly, perhaps the most key scene in the movie took place after the robbery. Segi was working at the Nakazato lab when appearing though of course unseen was the Invisible Man, we viewers had an inkling on who it was but now we were 100% certain. Which is that the identity of the Invisible Man was Segi's lab partner Kurokawa and Segi was the only person he could turn to, who else would believe that there was a true Invisible Man? Plus Segi may be the only person who could develop an antidote to reverse the invisibility, Segi had been working on that with no success and I was surprised Kurokawa didn't help his mate in discovering the cure. Kurokawa did tell Segi the entire story of why/how he became the Invisible Man, this scene is in the above screenshots and as Segi told Kurokawa 'You're being tricked!'.

 When Machiko had received that bogus telegram from her father Nakazato saying he would be gone for a few days Kurokawa thought it was the perfect time for a mini vacation. While packing at his apartment the unnamed respectful looking man mentioned in the first post had arrived and told Kurokawa the professor wanted to see him, of course Kurokawa had then gone with this man. To an unknown(even to viewers though maybe Kawabe's villa) location and Nakazato was being held there, that's him above tied up. At this building Kurokawa wasn't allowed to see Nakazato but heard his voice once so went along with what these goons said and the key thing was of Kurokawa taking the invisibility serum aka Atomina Invisibilitator. Kurokawa was a smart man but was duped easily, this gang told the now Invisible Man that if he wanted the antidote to become transparent again he would have to steal the Amour Tears diamond!!!! So Kurokawa was trapped, if he didn't do what these thugs demanded he would be invisible forever and they would kill Nakazato. The major side effect of the invisibility serum is that it makes a person violent, Kurokawa wasn't that kind of man but had hurt many in those two attempts to get the diamond and pleaded with Segi to help him but of course he didn't have the antidote or how to create it. Meanwhile in the bottom screenshot above Matsubara and his men had nabbed the fake Invisible Man whose name was Goda. He pleaded with Matsubara to not make him tell him the name of the man who hired Goda to impersonate the Invisible Man for it may be Goda who is killed next, as it shows in the first screenshot below his prediction was true!

 Final segment and a lot did take place so will need an extra paragraph, what took place is in the above screenshots and the first six below. Though surrounded by the police Goda had been stabbed to death by the Invisible Man who then took the Amour Tears diamond from Matsubara and fled successfully as it's hard to chase someone invisible! Of course you now know the Invisible Man is Kurokawa but will usually refer to him as the Invisible Man to make it easier to understand. Quickly the Invisible Man dashed to Kawabe who was nearby in his car and gave him the Amour Tears, now he wants the antidote to make him visible again. Of course Kawabe said he didn't bring it with him, he said come to his villa that night and everything will be settled. While that was going on we learned this creep Kawabe had a fast one pulled on him which was that Ryuko had switched out the real Amour Tears with an imitation and Kawabe never noticed that!!!! Later on Kawabe had visited Machiko and perhaps he liked her more than I presumed. Ryuko was there and after that robbery was very suspicious of Kawabe, she let him know then that whoever took the diamond had only stolen an imitation. Naturally deep down Kawabe was fuming but when he learned Ryuko still had the real one invited her to his villa as Kawabe would still honor his offer of buying the Amour Tears for eight million yen.

 Also there had of course been Machiko as it was her house and Segi, listening at the window had been the man who truly loved her Kurokawa but better known as the Invisible Man! Did say a side effect of the invisibility serum was that it can make someone very violent, when Kurokawa noticed how close Machiko had become with Segi he was so irate and after smashing many objects at the house to scare all which did work he vowed to get his revenge. Lot of action in the last few minutes and the scene shifted to the Kawabe villa where Machiko, Ryuko and Sego went with the fiendish man.... of course also making an appearance will be the Invisible Man!. Machiko wore the Amour Tears necklace to the villa, immediately Kawabe separated her from the group after she arrived and asked for the valuable diamond! Plus Kawabe wanted Machiko to run away and elope with him so this creep did like her much more than we had thought. The Invisible Man aka Kurokawa knew where everyone had been going and stole a police motorcycle to get to the villa. The Invisible Man walked in when Kawabe was demanding the necklace and as a screenshot above shows took it for himself! Machiko heard the voice and now she knows the true identity of the Invisible Man but like Segi was powerless to do anything. Shortly after Kurokawa did give the Amour Tears to Kawabe, now it's time for him to give the Invisible Man the antidote to make him normal again! 

 Naturally Kawabe had pulled a fast one on the Invisible Man for there was no antidote and stalled for time, as he told his thugs above perhaps they can make the Invisible Man kill the professor Nakazato and do more robberies. It never came to that for the police motorcycle that had been stolen was tailed by the investigator Matsubara and his troops. This was a quickish ending and am glad for that, Kawabe had been cornered outside his villa by the police though of course denied all charges. Matsubara then told all that Kawabe never was the owner off a huge Pharmaceutical company but was a known jewelry thief. When the Invisible Man man heard Kawabe deny all the charges he grabbed one of the officers revolvers and shot Kawabe, justice was done as this fiend died! Even so Matsubara didn't want to see the Invisible Man killed but how to capture him? The police had no alternative as the Invisible Man also fired at them so he could escape, the revolver was floating in the air which was a neat trick so they knew where to fire and did hit the Invisible Man. Who I will now call Kurokawa again, it didn't appear as though he was hurt badly but I think by then Kurokawa did not want to live as the Invisible Man forever and walked into the ocean. No one knew where he was in the water until Kurokawa died, the first six screenshots below are from those final 3-4 minutes. When Kurokawa died in the ocean his body appeared again and perhaps the serum only worked on those who were living and his body floating in the water ended this superb movie. It may have only been an 82 minute movie but so much more happened than in films that are 30-40 minutes longer! So as mentioned in the intro did enjoy this movie immensely and I really dig these old black and white movies. After the first six screenshots below are many more from the second half of the movie to help you understand the story better, do recommend this film which isn't that hard to find though isn't too well known.