Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Shozo Uehara. Airdate May 19, 1968.
Ultraseven returns to horror with a spectral-themed story that hints at the supernatural. However, like the previous horror outing, “The Human Farm,” this episode has an odd split between its parts: low-key foreboding, claustrophobic staging, and general eeriness upfront — and then a big ol’ space shoot-‘em-up for the ending. Both parts are good at what they do, especially the ghostly first two-thirds. However, I like the promise of a fully weird horror episode about shadow creatures arising from dead bodies far too much to feel satisfied when the action switches to another battle with alien vessels. Perhaps I just miss Ultra Q too much.
The dead bodies are part of a macabre mystery unfolding around TDF’s Japanese headquarters. Soon after receiving classified microfilm detailing the locations of all of the Terran Defense Force’s secret bases, a series of seemingly random fatal accidents starts happening. All the victims are unidentified men in black outfits. When the Ultra Guard investigates, they discover that several cadavers being used for scientific study were stolen from a nearby hospital’s morgue, suggesting that some force has animated the corpses and sent them to enter the TDF base.
This is a grim setup for an episode of Ultraseven, and it takes a turn for the stranger when shadows start to emerge from the bodies. These “Shadowmen” are able to overcome Dan even when he’s changed into Ultraseven, and they then steal the classified microfilm from a secure vault to transmit it into space.
All the sequences around the Shadowmen are excellent, with clever practical effects of the living shadows manipulating objects and eerie opticals of the transparent white-faced, black-clad dead men. It feels like early J-horror. There’s a handwave of a scientific explanation — something about psychic manipulation — but the feel of supernatural horror is strong, helped by the dark photography and tense staging.
Of course, aliens are behind the Shadowmen. It was always going to be aliens, and it’s a bit deflating that the episode goes in the standard direction after the enticement of a paranormal threat. Ultra shows have swerved into the purely fantastic before — Ultra Q established that — but Ultraseven stays in the science fiction lane. There remains a hint that the Shadowmen are actually the souls of the dead that Alien Ulley has figured out how to control, so the supernatural isn’t completely discounted. But once the UG determines that aliens are behind the scheme, the show’s science-fiction elements override everything.
Maybe Tsuburaya Productions didn’t feel they could go all the way with the story of undead animated shadows in a show focused on science fiction, so they switched to a space battle for the closer. It’s still disappointing: I’m always happy to see the Ultra shows experiment with genre, and I love the Ultra Q vibes of the early parts of this episode, which remind me of the sinister mood of “The Devil Child.”
The alien species, Alien Ulley, has the lowest presence of any extraterrestrial invader so far. We never see them, only their spacecraft, and the species is never named onscreen. This is also the rare Ultra show with no costumed creature at all, kaiju or seijin. Some might miss this familiar aspect of the franchise, but the Shadowmen do well enough as the episode’s monsters.
The climax, with the Ultra Hawk 1 and Seven engaging Alien Ulley’s ships in orbit, throws a lot of firepower at the screen. There are a few wobbly spots in the effects, such as an unconvincing miniature Ultraseven figurine when the aliens catch him, and obvious wires appearing against the flashes of explosions. But the volume of the effects and the pacing make these easy to ignore. Tsuburaya Productions was exceptionally skilled at staging these types of space blast-ups by now, and as a substitute for a giant monster fight, it’s satisfying.
The choice to attempt a mystery-themed pseudo-ghost story on Ultraseven came from the network. TBS had previously coaxed Tsuburaya to produce more monster-centered stories to grab younger viewers, but they were also experimenting with supernatural and mystery-themed programs. Tsuburaya Pro would head in this direction with the show Operation Mystery, which began airing at the end of the year. “Invading Dead” can be seen as a test run for that show.
Discounting the mismatched parts and my own disappointment at the final turn the story takes, this is overall a solid episode. It’s appropriately creepy when it needs to be, has enjoyably bombastic editing transitions that boost the pacing, and doesn’t spare the space spectacle when it leaves the supernatural behind.
Rating: Good
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