There's fun to be had, but the drama builds tension of a sort, and the ensuing adventure is as exciting as you'd hope for a film aimed towards young ones. The bullying feels real, and Michele's torment is palpable, and it remains grounded once the invisibility enters the frame. This Italian effort reminds me a bit of 2013's Danish film Antboy in that it's a YA take on superhero-like territory, but it's slightly less silly in its approach and features stronger effects. It's ridiculous and patriotic, and I love it. The biggest WTF isn't even a plot point but instead a filmmaker choice – the damn thing is essentially narrated by the strong-voiced John Dehner (1983's The Right Stuff) who keeps viewers up to speed even to the point of talking over dialogue of on-screen characters. Still, there's an entertaining creepiness to the zombified humans, and the ludicrous nature of it all turns the film into a horror/comedy of sorts. Yeah yeah, they have plenty of hope because humanity has science, ingenuity, and the film's script on their side. What hope does humanity have against invisible invaders? The undead here aren't looking to eat brains, but they're still a threat to be reckoned with as their bodies are those of loved ones, and even if you destroy one, the invisible alien simply moves on to another corpse. The premise is filled with originality as it blends the alien invasion setup with a zombie army a decade before zombies would break through into pop culture with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968). Yeah yeah, this slice of 1950s sci-fi/horror isn't all that great, but I'm here to argue that it's fast-moving and creative fun anyway. Should that matter when the victims have all been stabbed? I don't know, I'm not an entomologist, but I have to respect how thorough the police are in their investigation. The cops work to narrow down suspects and look for connections between the targets, and even the fly theory goes through some detective work as they look at poisonous flies from around the world. Part of the film's fun is that it's essentially a straight-forward police procedural even as this bonkers business is unfolding all around. A businessman seeking revenge, an invisibility ray that also causes cancer, saucy dancers at a club of ill repute, multiple murders, a cop willing to sacrifice himself, exploding miniature trains, invisible hijinks with a banana, attempted theft, an act of terrorism with triple-digit body count.and a human fly a full year before Vincent Price encountered and crushed a far more famous one. The Boyz have done some more housecleaning, so the first 1,050 Invisibles quizzes have been now been locked away in the FilmWise Vault.This Japanese crime picture is an ambitious blend of genre ideas, and all of it is played deadly straight. Invisibles Quiz #1096: Best Picture Also-Rans Invisibles Quiz #1127: Spooky Halloween Horror Edition! Invisibles Quiz #1134: Christmas Spirit Edition! Invisibles Quiz #1145: Best Picture Oscar Also-Rans The second half of this week's Invisibles Double Feature is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters as a thank you for your support! If you'd like to become a Patron to receive exclusive content like this, check out our FilmWise Patreon page.
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