A new way to get a buzz on.
A man is stabbed in the back on an airplane. There are no witnesses. Chief Inspector Wakabayashi (Yoshiro Kitahara) is assigned the case. Recently there has been a rash of strange killings. All stabbed in the back and there were no witnesses. Also there was a bank robbery. Whoever did it got passed locked doors and stabbed a guard. Several million yen was stolen. A match box at the scene brings Wakabayashi to the “Club Asia”. The owner is Kuroki (Fujio Harumoto). He has an alibi.
Meanwhile, Wakabayashi’s friend Dr. Tsukioka (Ryuji Shinagawa) is a scientist. He works with a Physicist Prof. Hayakawa (Shozo Nanbu). Tsukioka is also engaged to Hayakawa's daughter, Akiko (Yoshiro Kitahara). Tsukioka and Hayakawa are researching cosmic rays. During their research they have accidentally discovered the secret of invisibility.
There are more stabbings. The only clue is the sound of a buzzing insect. Something that sounds like a house fly. The evil brains behind the murders is a man called Kusunoki (Ichiro Izawa). His hit man is Yamada (Shizuo Chujo). Kusunoki has a gas that can shrink a human down to the size of a fly. That way the killer can get close to his target. He can then grow large again and stab the victim. He then once again shrinks down and is able to escape. Unfortunately for Yamada, he is now addicted to the drug. He also begins to kill people that are not on Kusunoki’s list of victims. Kusunoki is seeking revenge for those he feels are responsible for him being arrested for war crimes. On the other hand, Yamada’s list is anyone his paranoid brain feels has wronged him.
Wakabayashi wants Tsukioka to turn him invisible. He believes that is the only way he can catch Kusunoki. Because the ray is not perfected, anyone who is made invisible cannot be changed back. Reversing the process kills the subject. Instead he turns the ray on himself. Tsukioka is now invisible. Kusunoki hears of the invisibility ray. He sends Yamada to steal it but Yamada ends up killing himself. Tsukioka has heard what is going on and is willing to testify against Kusunoki. Wakabayashi tries to arrest Kusunoki but he shrinks and gets away. Kusunoki begins planting bombs, killing hundreds of people. He demands the invisible ray. If it is not turned over to him he will plant bombs all over Tokyo and kill thousands.
“Invisible Man vs Human Fly” was released in 1957 and was directed by Mitsuo Murayama. The movie is a science-fiction film produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company. The Gamera people. It is the studio's second film based on The Invisible Man, after “Invisible Man Appears”. No official English version of the film exists. In 2014 or 2015 a subtitled version was released on DVD.
The movie is basically a Japanese police procedural with a science fiction twist. Some people liked it, some people didn’t. It’s not an especially great movie and the ending is a little silly but I had fun with it. It’s rare and different. The flying fly man special effects aren’t great, but the invisible man effects are decent.
There are some plot holes. What happened to Kusunoki that he’s so pissed off about? How did he get a hold of this human fly gas? None of that is really explored. Even so, there is enough there that I could ignore the plot problems. The movie concentrated more on the police aspects of the film and not the sci-fi aspects. Could it have been better? Sure, but it’s no worse than any other 50’s style science fiction movie.
The film actually pre-dates the American film “The Fly” released in 1958 with Vincent Price and David (Al) Hedison.