AllMovie

Despite a muddled plot, static photography, and a questionable "comic relief" performance by Marie Wilson (who, unfortunately, replaced Jane Wyman), The Invisible Menace is almost saved by its star, Boris Karloff. Little more than a red herring, Karloff manages to give his stock character a depth probably not found in writer Crane Wilbur's original screenplay. Karloff, who appears much younger in the film's flashback sequence, is truly touching as a man fighting for his future in a hostile environment. And the environment is indeed hostile -- with Cy Kendall sadistically leading the investigation as if he is playing one of his usual B-Western villains. Like so many of Karloff's non-horror efforts, The Invisible Menace seems to have counted on an exploitative title and Karloff's eerie presence and let it go at that.