User reviews

The guy has a mommy complex similar to Norman Bates, saying "hello mother" when he kills - invisibly kills that is. Yep this guy has found the key to invisibility somewhere.

It really is like a very cheap 1970s cop show - one of those that is easily forgotten about because no one cared enough to watch it or remember. It's that bad.

I got this dud in Mill Creek's Sci-Fi Classics 50-Pack. I was hoping that this would be a hidden rough gem - but it's just a plain old rock. If you skip this one, you will not miss a thing. OK one thing maybe, I saw Powers' butt cheeks when she bent over in that pink shirt she was wearing... like I really cared to see that - but some of you might.

2/10

This is just like most of the television of the 1970's. Boring. This is about revenge and invisibility. The invisible guy is after a group of stunning women (including Elke Sommer) because of issues with the opposite sex and some Freudian stuff. I don't think Robert Foxworth ever made anything worth watching and this is no exception. Another downer is his assistant, a gum chewing idiot who doesn't follow orders and tries to be cool. I kept waiting for Captain Kirk to be waiting for the invisible guy, because he used the same sparkly stuff to become invisible as the Star Trek guys did when they beamed down. The acting is so wooden and there is so little true give and take, it's like they were reading from a blurry script.

"Demonstrating that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, a convicted strangler studies the paranormal and finds a way to render himself invisible. Once he escapes, he sets out to find and eliminate the five women who testified in his prosecution. A police lieutenant (Robert Foxworth) sets out to safeguard them, and bring the invisible killer to justice," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Made and hidden away as "Invisible Strangler" in 1976, and dredged up for reproducing as "The Astral Factor" for 1984.

The most interesting aspect of this mother-fixated thriller is that you get to see the stars make asses of themselves. Mr. Foxworth (as Chuck Barrett) shows his bare buttocks while answering the door to Mark Slade (as Holt). Then, you see a bare-naked rear view of sexy Stefanie Powers (as Candy). Mr. Slade's pants are tight enough in the rear to ascertain that he prefers briefs to boxers. "You bet your sweet ass," he tells Foxworth. And, Elke Sommer (as Christina Hartman) models her tightly-clothed behind, too.

** The Astral Factor (1984) John Florea ~ Robert Foxworth, Elke Sommer, Stefanie Powers, Mark Slade

Roger Sands, a mentally disturbed murderer jailed in an asylum for the murder of his overbearing mother, has developed the psychic ability to become invisible. Walking out of his jail cell, he begins strangling those who helped convict him. Police officers attempt to stop him but find themselves outclassed by his powers.

The Astral Factor was originally made in 1976 but sat on a shelf for years before being released in 1984. There are currently two different versions of the film – the original & the re-edited version known as Invisible Strangler, which has a completely reshot beginning & different characters & effects. Both are available on DVD or on YouTube.

But regardless of which version you watch, The Astral Factor is a very poor film. The story is interesting enough but the execution of it is mind-numbingly dull. The pace is slow & the very few action scenes featured are boring as heck. The visual effects are cheaply done & there are boom mikes present in many shots.

Yes, that pen-clicking detective was annoying. But when Barret took the pen away from him, HE started clicking it. Personally I would have taken the pen away from him and thrown it away. The only humorous part was when Barrett tried to eat the birthday cake Candy made for him. Apparently it was a sponge cake made from a real sponge.

I got my copy from the same 20 Blood Chilling Classics set that someone else mentioned. So far, the black and white movies are looking better than the color movies (except maybe for The Terror featuring an early appearance by Jack Nicholson).

I think this movie ranks at about the same level as The Galaxy Invader (also from the same set) about drunken rednecks chasing a space alien.

AKA--The Invisible Strangler Roger raised by starlet mom--hidden and angry

"The Astral Factor" is also known as "The Invisible Strangler", though I prefer to think of it as "That Stupid Robert Foxworth Movie"! This is because no matter how good the film is (and it isn't very good), the basic story idea is so stupid that you cannot help but hate this film. Not surprisingly, it's slipped into the public ___domain--doubtless because no sane person could ever see this film as a potential money-maker!

When the film begins, convicted psychopathic killer Roger Sands is practicing his psychic powers. The nut-job has been studying on his own--trying to develop psychic skills that will allow him to escape his prison cell and return to a life of murdering models and starlets that remind him of his mother...who he previously murdered. But, considering that Sands can turn invisible and do other cool things with his mind, the cops are stumped how to catch this ingenious nutter!

As I mentioned above, the plot idea for this one is just nuts! And, some of the acting isn't particularly good. So overall, it's an awful little film--one who simply isn't really enjoyable or worth your time. You could EASILY do better!

If it wasn't for the scene in which Stephanie Powers graces the viewer with her naked backside & some side boob action one would be forgiven for thinking "The Astral Factor" a TV Movie of the week (Which were quite prevalent in those days). As is it's one of the few things that DOES stand out in this lackluster dip into the new age pool. If you're already a fan of seventies era films & TV shows you'll no doubt recognize several of the actors from such fare as "The Love Boat", & "Fantasy Island". Needless to say that there's nothing groundbreaking going on here. If your standards are low (REALLY low) then you may get something out of this. Otherwise buyer (And viewer) beware.

Science fiction and horror have different standards than other movie genres. Quite often, something that would be considered terrible in another type of film becomes a cult classic. This, however, is not one of those films. It is just plain terrible.

I loved the TV show 'Hart to Hart' and thought Stefanie Powers was wonderfully sexy in the style of Agent 99, Diana Peel or McMillan's Wife. She is the closet thing to interesting in this disaster.

Robert Foxworth is far from my favorite actor but he is oh so much better than this. It may be caused by a really bad script, bad directing or just not really caring. It is good for all these folks that their future careers did not rest of this film.

The special effects are pathetic, which, if the movie had anything else going for it, is not always a major consideration in movies of this era. What little humor there is fails to provide the comic relief for which one would hope. Then again, their is little or no tension from which you need relief.

I could hear my brain cells dying as I watched this waste of colloid. Supposedly Mr. TV static man can turn invisible with his extrasensory powers and goes off killing unknown socialites all because Mommy wasn't there. There are absolutely no redeeming factors from this flick, the lines were delivered in perfectly flat monotone, the acting horrendous (the best acting by Prince the G Shepard), and the sound tract starting to redeem the movie with an awesome trumpet - only to be ruined by the corniest wacka-wacka music ever recorded. We even have to imagine that the inane flailing by the victims is actually the TV static man doing what he does best. Don't bother unless you are suffering from insomnia.