The invisible ray comes from Andromeda and allows Dr Rukh (Boris Karloff) to see a meteorite that hit Africa millions of years ago. He goes in search of evidence with a party that includes his wife Diane (Frances Drake), Dr Benet (Bela Lugosi), Sir Francis (Walter Kingsford), Lady Arabella (Beulah Bondi) and non-entity Ronald (Frank Lawton). He discovers Radium X and lets Dr Benet into his secret, but it has a fatal effect on him. He starts to glow and decides to exact his revenge on the party that "stole" his discovery. He's a madman!
It's a film that starts out spooky, then goes into science fiction, then switches to adventure in Africa before changing into a murder story. It contains quite a lot of shifting story lines but it never really settles into any. It's a bit of everything and comes across as quite dull in parts. The best thing about the film is the performance of Violet Kemble Cooper as "Mother Rukh". She is proper scary and her performance would still creep the hell out of audiences today. At the opposite end of the scale is the dreadful Frank Lawton who has no charisma, especially as a love interest for Diane. Lugosi is laughable at first because of his accent but then becomes very likable. I was convinced by his performance as a good scientist and quite surprised that he managed to pull it off.
Unfortunately, the film ends rather unimaginatively. My mind drifted in parts, Violet Kemble Cooper is good but the film is just OK.
It's a film that starts out spooky, then goes into science fiction, then switches to adventure in Africa before changing into a murder story. It contains quite a lot of shifting story lines but it never really settles into any. It's a bit of everything and comes across as quite dull in parts. The best thing about the film is the performance of Violet Kemble Cooper as "Mother Rukh". She is proper scary and her performance would still creep the hell out of audiences today. At the opposite end of the scale is the dreadful Frank Lawton who has no charisma, especially as a love interest for Diane. Lugosi is laughable at first because of his accent but then becomes very likable. I was convinced by his performance as a good scientist and quite surprised that he managed to pull it off.
Unfortunately, the film ends rather unimaginatively. My mind drifted in parts, Violet Kemble Cooper is good but the film is just OK.