5
(powers are derived from paranormal studies)
5
(brief nudity, sexual suggestion, strong language, & mild violence)
3
(avoid it unless you have a specific interest)
Roger is super villain of sorts. He has powers of telekinesis and invisibility which he uses to escape from prison. He has a bad hang up over women due to a crappy childhood with a crummy mother. And so he takes out his issues on other women with lethal results. This is "The Astral Factor."
Barrett is a cop with attitude, so much, in fact, that he can be a real jerk, and he's the one called in to solve the murders. He's good at what he does and is able to identify the killer and the next potential victims pretty quickly, but he has no idea what he's up against with all the super powers ready to be thrown into the mix.
"The Astral Factor" mostly follows the investigation as Barrett tracks down and faces off against Roger. Can he save the other victims from a guy he can't even see? I watch enough X Files-type shows that I could probably get into a story like this if it were decently done even if it is far fetched. Unfortunately this has all the production values of a shoestring budget without the ability to compensate for it.
The effects are cheesy although I kinda like the vanishing Roger effects even if they are dated. Boom mics show up in the picture so often they might as well be a side character. The sound mix is weak, and the music is typical low budget synth cheese.
The actors seem to mostly be people you might know, but only if you watched a lot of TV in the 70's and 80's and really paid attention to cast lists. Stefanie Powers, for instance you might know from “Hart to Hart.” Frank Ashmore was Martin in "V." Robert Foxworth has the most recent credits (he is the voice of Ratchet in the Transformers movies). Elke Sommer seems to be the persistent “special guest star” type. But I'm betting most people have no idea who any of these guys are.
All that to say the acting is passable, even decent, as far as the main roles go. They are probably the one aspect of this movie that make it worth watching to any degree. Some of the conflicts and interactions are actually pretty good. Some of the side roles, though, are nothing short of mind-meltingly horrible. Even worse, a few of the murder scenes are downright pitiful in their staging and execution.
Morality
This is said to be a PG movie, but it has plenty of questionable material. We get a little bit of male and female nudity as a couple gets up after a wild night in bed. We get some sexual suggestion and some other revealing scenes that don't get as far as actual nudity.
There's a fair amount of strong language including several religious slurs.
The violence amounts to people acting like they are getting knocked around and is generally not all that convincing. Even when a guy gets speared in the back there is no blood.
Spirituality
This is more or less about good vs. evil. Villain wants to harm others with powers he got from reading about the paranormal, Hero wants to stop him maybe with altruistic motives and maybe not. It's not terribly thought-provoking. The only spritual elements come from the explanation for Roger's powers and that is cursory at best.
Final Thoughts
I only ran into this one because it was included in a pack of random movies that was given to me. I'm glad I didn't spend any money on it and recommend that you refrain from doing so yourself. I've certainly seen worse, but skip this one if you have to put any effort at all into watching it.
Buying Guide
"The Astral Factor" has a few buying options for you although I recommend not spending much on it.
There are at least 2 DVD's in print plus another one listed under the title “Invisible Stranger” although the box art says it should be “Invisible Strangler.” You can also find it in a double-feature with “Brain Machine” and in a variety of multi-packs including the “Chilling” 20 pack.
All of the releases list the same unimpressive specs I mentioned above. All of the quality comments I saw sound pretty much like the one in the 20 pack. None mention any extras.
Final Recommendation:
It doesn't sound like a good transfer of the film exists or is planned. I will say that this 20 pack often has quality that is even weaker than other budget packs so if you're wanting this movie specifically you'd have a better chance at improved quality, however marginal it might be, by going with a different release.
If you get the Chilling 20 pack here what you'll get.
Video
1.33:
As far as I can tell this is the original ratio and has not been modified from widescreen. It's very trashy with colors so thin that they drop out completely on occasion. It's extremely grainy as well.
Audio
2.0 mono:
The audio is low quality, it's muted with a few crackles and a slight hum.
Packaging
The disc comes in a paper sleeve that lives in a plastic case.
Extras
There are no extras of any kind.