Densô ningen

Someone is killing former Imperial soldiers and the prime suspect is a comrade they betrayed and left for dead 14 years earlier. The sci-fi gimmick in this otherwise routine murder mystery is the killer's access to a teleport machine, which allows him to get at the victims and yet seem to have an alibi. The plot doesn't really make a lot of sense* and not much is done with the teleportation angle other than allowing the killer to unexpectedly appear and to occasionally emit a blue aura or flicker mysteriously. Eiji Tsuburaya's special effects are limited but effective (especially the teleportation sequences) and Jun Fukuda's direction is serviceable, although some of the drama is undercut by some cartoonish dubbed-in voices and frequent use of gimmicky Dutch angles. Not as good as the studios earlier sci-fi noir, 1958's 'The H-man' ('Bijo to ekitai ningen') or 1960's 'The First Gas Human' ('Gasu ningen dai 1 gô') but entertaining enough for fans of vintage tokusatsu. *at least in dubbed version I watched.