The Invisible Kid

My review was written in April 1988 after a Times Square screening.

"The Invisible Kid" is an inept teen fantasy; one hesitates to call it a comedy though that was the intention. It's another video given a theatrical release.

Pic belongs not to the flop teen science genre of three years back (e.g., "My Science Project", "Real Genius") but rather the tease sleaze of "Zapped!". Jay Underwood portrays a high school nerd using his late science teacher dad's notes to complete dad's work. Pigeon droppings fall in the compound (unbeknownst to Underwood), creating a powder that makes one invisible for 30 minutes when ingested. Stupid script has the invisibility period reduced by five minutes each time; dumb twist gives you a full 30 the eighth time around.

This is strictly an excuse for peeping in the girls' locker room, hoping leading lady Chynna Phillips will flash a bare chest (she doesn't) and failed slapstick. Low point is probably when the hero hides in the principal's office and we are treated to a flatulence. An inane subplot involving a basketball tournament is injected to give Underwood some licks imitating Michael J. Fox on the court in "Teen Wolf".

Threadbare production has most of the invisibility "achieved" via first-person Steadicam, plus some token effects work. Avery Crounse's direction is strictly amateurish.

Young cast tries, but Karen Black is a joke as the boy's dizzy mom, right down to a pointless outtake of her following the end credits. Brother Theodore has nothing to do as a Dr. Ruth-type tv advisor show host, presumably cast because (like Dr. Ruth) he has a thick accent.

I absolutely loved this movie as a stupid kid in the 80s, renting it nearly six consecutive times before tiring and moving to more sophisticated cinema like Rad and Munchies. The title kid is a high school student who makes himself invisible to all those around him so he can play evil tricks on them. Bwa-ha-ha. Immediately making constructive use of this newfound discovery, he goes into the girls' locker room where a bunch of underage airheads giggle and whip each other with wet towels (and there was quite the amount of boobage on display for this PG flick). He also accidentally spies on his principal who hides out in his office where he drinks whisky and farts like an angry duck. The climax could not have been more unbelievable as the nerdy protagonist kicks B-ball booty in the name of school spirit; some of his athletic moves, such as spiking the ball like a volleyball into the hoop, were enough to dumbfound even the less discriminating eight-year-olds. Also hilarious is the squirrelly mascot who makes `tire screeching' sounds while running across the gym floor.

Whenever I watch this movie, I marvel at how pathetically horrible the picture is. A lot of cheap eighties movies need remastering. I say need, because all movies deserve to look their best. The Invisible Kid is a fantasy movie for guys. The locker room scene looks like fun and it would be cool to see a girl appear before you in a towel. Jay Underwood(Not Quite Human), Chynna Phillips(Wilson-Phillips), Karen Black(Easy Rider), and Brother Theodore(Uncle Reuben from The Burbs!) have roles. Several scenes are a little mind numbing like the last one which gets ridiculous. Fun to watch when it pops up on HBO every now and then.

This movie itself was not meant to be an award winner, it was meant to be a film to sit down an enjoy with your friends and to have a good laugh, and it becomes every teenagers fantasy to have the power of invisibility, to get back at school bullies, and sneak into the girls locker room, it does not get silly with kiddie dialog, and it does not get to crazy with gross out humor like American Pie(1999) did enough to get an R rating. But I will note this to the director, if you were trying to avoid it being a kiddie flick, you should have come up with a better title, maybe it should have been called The Guy Who Isn't There, or The Hollow Guy. Other then that still entertaining.

Although it has been a while since I've seen this film, I still remember some of it. What spurred me on in my quest to now locate a copy of my own is the fact that Wallace Langam (aka David Hodges of CSI) is in it (credited as Wally Ward) Regardless, I remember this movie being a very hilarious/silly-type comedy that i could watch over and over again. True it wasn't a 'hit' nor was it raunchy like "American Pie" or "Animal House" which i could not even get through. I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone - especially if they are in the mood for a good old fashioned laugh. Similar type movies include '"Zapped" & "Zapped Again"