Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

MartinHafer Proposed series looks cheap santa cruz ovrethrow of disctator films in NO despite thrilling movie, a low speed show sibling irvalry"Invisible Avenger" was a pilot for a proposed series from Republic Studios that was never okayed by the networks as a weekly series. So, to recoup some of the production costs, the studio released it in theaters as a film. In some ways, the show looked pretty good, filming on location in New Orleans. But in most, it just seemed cheap and surprisingly dull. After all, the Shadow is a pretty cool character....just not in this incarnation.The story is about the fictional country of Santa Cruz. It's ruled by a dictator and the opposition is hiding out in the States. Lamont Cranston (the Shadow) makes it his responsibility to protect the man and do what he can to help bring freedom to the people of Santa Cruz. However, a little bit of sibling rivalry is tossed into the mix...and you wonder how Cranston will manage to stay alive!The biggest problem is the lack of energy in the film. For a TV show of the 50s, you might expect this....but not from a film released in theaters. I am pretty sure audiences left this one a bit bored and disappointed.

Richard Chatten The title of this garrulous and uninvolving retread set largely in New Orleans of the radio character popularized in the thirties by Orson Welles may be vaguely familiar to some from its presence as a rather mysterious footnote to the illustrious filmography of the Oscar-winning cameraman James Wong Howe. Howe directed one feature film, 'Go, Man, Go!' (1954), with the Harlem Globetrotters, and between his Oscars for 'The Rose Tattoo' (1955) and 'Hud' (1963) directed a few TV episodes, of which this may have been his first. Assembled from two unsold pilot episodes for a TV series (of which only one was directed by Howe, hence the joint credit) which were spliced together under the intriguing title 'Invisible Avenger' and released as a feature film, it thus finds itself by default among Howe's film credits.The drab photography, however, belies Howe's contribution; and as an avowed stickler for realism I hope he wasn't responsible for the multiple set-ups employed on the public execution shown being screened on American television. Apart from the "Daddy O" jazz talk and the topical storyline about revolutionaries plotting against a Latin American dictatorship, it feels more like a Republic serial from the forties. Using his radio name of Lamont Cranston, the Shadow hangs out with a mystic sidekick named Jogendra who's taught him how to think himself invisible (hence the title), but rather than simply prowling about invisible he usually waits until he gets caught and then confound his captors by disappearing; sometimes for effect he casts a shadow only, and he only ever emits his trademark diabolical cackle when invisible.Although billed third and cutting a striking figure as a hard-boiled nightclub hostess, Helen Westcott's role proves surprisingly irrelevant to the action.

JohnHowardReid Also known by its re-issue title, "Terror in the Night", this el cheapo production with its cast of nonentities – Bill Bloom had previously played a waiter in "The Party Crashers" (1958) and a role in the Mr. Novak television series, but none of the other players seem to have enjoyed any other credits at all – is not too bad by the humble standards of the non-mainstream exploitation flick, and it certainly has a time warp curiosity value. Director Bill Parker/Ben Posner did have a modest Hollywood career and went on to film in 1964 a re-make of "The Shepherd of the Hills" with Richard Arlen in the title role. Most of his movies, however, were shorts. So "Teenage Strangler"/"Terror in the Night" is really a somewhat incompetent but not too bad a flick for completests like me, rather than the casual DVD buyer. Yes, you can buy at least a thousand murder mystery/teenage trauma movies better than this one And yes, this particular film is now available on DVD from Alpha in a very good print.

dbborroughs A Shadow movie thats rarely ever listed as a Shadow movie. Richard Derr plays Lamont Cranston, a man with the power to cloud men's minds and become the Shadow. Cranston is on the trail of the people responsible for the disappearance of a friend in New Orleans.I really like this film. Its not completely faithful to the Shadow myth, but then again what film ever was? (Come to think of it even the stories and radio show changed things as they went along) It certainly plays better than the Rod LaRocque nightmares where the Shadow is some beefy guy in a cape and hat trying to solve some awfully plotted crimes. And it better than the Kane Richmond Shadow movies which are okay, but have the Shadow able to be seen by people. (it's not fair to compare the Alec Baldwin film or the serials since they are different animals)Derr makes a good Cranston, although one wonders about the relationship with his teacher. Its fast paced and breezy with a good jazz score. It looks as cheap, due no doubt to the budget, but that somehow give it a grittiness it shouldn't have. The film also shows signs of the films troubled production, intended to be one thing it ended up another. There are also two directors listed. Still its a great film to put on at 2am and watch.What the film really needs are bumpers for The Late Late Late Show and cheesy commercials to go with it for a perfect viewing experience. If you like films from the heyday of late night TV before cable, vcr's and infomercials then this is the movie for you.