NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (March 2021): Arrow have transferred two Japanese horror/sci-fi films to one Blu-ray; The Invisible Man Appears and The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly. They aren't in ideal condition and the presentations starts with this disclaimer: "The Invisible Man Appears and The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly are presented from the best surviving film elements, which in both cases are 16mm exhibition prints. As a result, both transfers feature anomalies like picture weaving, scratches and exposed film edges that we felt could not be effectively repaired without further compromising the integrity of the original image. We sincerely hope these issues do not affect your enjoyment of these two rare pieces of Tokusatsu history, available outside Japan for the first time." The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly is the rougher of the two with plenty of speckles and reel-change aberrations plus in one sequences the frame even coming out of the gate! (see below.) But these imperfects only add to the high camp value. Yeah - far from the height of the format but decent enough in regards to the source material.  They are fairly inconsistent but this did not effect my enjoyment.

NOTE: We have added 90 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) in the original Japanese language. Audio effects in both films are modest - in accordance with the era. Dialogue can be scattered and the scores are by Gorô Nishi on The Invisible Man Appears and Tokujiro Okubo for The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly. Both are fairly unremarkable. Arrow offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Arrow Blu-ray offers a newly filmed 25-minute interview with critic and genre scholar Kim Newman on the history of the "Invisible Man" in cinema. It is entitled "Transparent Terrors". Kim is always great to listen to. There is a theatrical trailer for The Invisible Man Appears and image galleries for both films. The package offers a reversible sleeve featuring new and original artwork by Graham Humphreys and the first pressing purchasers get an illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Keith Allison, Hayley Scanlon and Tom Vincent.

While The Invisible Man Appears is the more polished film, I really enjoyed The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly. with its inventive and alluring title - crossing over the two sci-fi characters. It's wonderfully bizarre with some unintentionally funny dialogue and absurd plot situations meshing with the unique cultural hybrid differences from the vintage Universal series they are emulating. Really innocent and fun in a boyhood sense - akin to Japanese versions of Drive-In enticement. Both titles fit snugly in our 50s-60's science-fiction / fantasy listing. The Arrow Blu-ray is one I will covet in my collection and revisit. Surely this is something that can't be successfully duplicated today in terms of camp value. Recommended to the wide-eyed child in you.

Gary Tooze