The Incredible Melting Man is a less than fantastic 70's B grade sci fi/horror flick. Astronaut Steve West returns from a space mission from Saturn and the results of the mission killed off his compatriots, but somehow Steve survives and escapes from the hospital turning into a man who's skin is melting, looking like a walking pizza that has a craving for human flesh. The best thing about this film is the make up f/x by Rick Baker. The acting, direction and overall quality of the film is pretty bad. The story is played out in typical slasher fashion and is by in large a pretty boring movie. I normally like movies from this time period that are in the splatter genre, but this film in question dosen't really stand out much and hasn't aged well.

An interesting, updated gory variant of the QUATERMASS adventures from Hammer, with a lower budget and much less plot. The main reason this film exists is to showcase Rick Baker's awesome makeup effects which more than make up for the minimal dialogue and the pathetic attempts at pathos. The film is cheaply and poorly made with actors whom you've never heard of, and will never hear of again. While all acting is of sufficient standard for a film of this type, the only person that sounds out from the rest is Doctor Nelson, who is a believable man juggling his marriage and his best friend's destruction. He's not a good performer but he's memorable in his wool hat and parka.However the plot and acting aren't really anything to judge this film by, instead you have the Incredible Melting Man himself, a character that is frankly hilarious. Hearing "space noises" in his head as he wanders the countryside, this guy just comes off the worse for wear in every instance. He even leaves his ear on a tree! Incredibly, the deaths in this film seem to have been played for laughs - check out the scene where he beheads a fisherman! The highlight of the film is probably the scene where he attacks a young girl who cuts off one of his arms with a meat cleaver! The camera lingers on the still twitching digits of the severed hand in one of many neat touches.On an aesthetic level the film is disappointing, no Oscar-calibre material here, but the Incredible Melting Man makes for quite an effective monster. It's just a shame that he wasn't given much to do apart from run around in the dark. The effects of his melting face and the final disintegration are truly superb, Rick Baker sure knows his stuff. And who can forget the fantastic ending, where, as I once heard someone on the internet sum it up neatly, "The guy melted and they threw him in the trashcan!" An enjoyable obscurity from a forgotten era.

Whilst on a space mission to Saturn, astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar) is exposed to mysterious radiation which leaves him severely burned all over his body. His two fellow astronauts don't survive, and upon his return to Earth, Steve is bandaged and hospitalized by Lisle Wilson from Brian De Palma's Sisters (1977) while the doctors run further tests. He breaks free of his restraints and attacks a nurse, devouring her face and fleeing into the countryside. Dr. Ted Nelson (Burr DeBenning) is given the task to track down Steve before he commits more murders by General Perry (Myron Healey), who later joins him on the hunt.Inspired by the Universal monster movies of the 30's and 40's, The Incredible Melting Man puts more focus on make-up and effects than blood and guts, which were on the rise due to the increasing popularity of slasher movies at the time. When Steve escapes the hospital, he begins to melt, his hands and face sliding off his skin in a vomit-inducing yellow and brown goo. Make-up artist Rick Baker's (of An American Werewolf In London (1981) and Videodrome (1983) fame) effects are, sadly, the only incredible thing about this cheap shlock-fest. A baffling script fails to explain just how Steve made it back home without his fellow astronauts, and more crucially, why he has suddenly developed a taste for human flesh and has gained super-strength. Even the movie's tagline, "the first new horror creature", makes no sense.The appalling acting is made worse by some strange narrative decisions. One scene includes Dr. Nelson, having just been commanded by Perry to lead the search for Steve as a matter of extreme urgency, choose not to start straight away and instead goes home to his wife to complain about the fact that she didn't buy crackers. The film shifts between ridiculous domestic conversations and the ever-dripping murderous lunk biting, punching and decapitating his way through a highly-populated woodland area. Fans of drive-in exploitation will lap it up, and it at least moves at a fast pace, but The Incredible Melting Man is a half-baked idea thrown together without any consideration, redeemed somewhat by its wonderfully gruesome effects.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

The Incredible Melting Man is a delightfully bad 1977 sci-fi/ horror about ill-fated astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar) who returns from a space mission exploring Saturn's rings with a mysterious condition where his flesh is melting and he is radioactive. For some reason, just as mystifying as to how he got this way, (there is a hint it was caused by viewing the sun through Saturn's rings but, it's never confirmed.) Steve must consume human flesh to slow down the degeneration. As his mind degenerates too, West escapes the hospital and begins to chow down on the locals while he is pursued by friend Dr. Ted Nelson (Burr DeBenning) and Air Force General Perry (Myron Healey). As Steve melts more and more, the more locals, including Nelson's in-laws, fall victim to the stricken astronaut who becomes less and less human by the minute. Can he be stopped? Can the process be reversed? Who will be his next meal? All the questions are answered and if this kind of flick is your thing, you'll have a fun time watching the answers unfold. Despite it's less then 90 minute running time the film is methodically paced. There are a lot of scenes of West roaming around the countryside with the last moments of the mission playing over and over in his head while Dr. Nelson follows his trail with his handy Geiger counter. Most of the attacks are off camera thought there are plentiful shots of the gory carnage and one great shot of a dismembered head going over a waterfall and smashing on the rocks below. Aside from the gore and melting FX, which were done by the now legendary RIck Baker, there is plenty of hilariously bad dialog and unintentional laugh inducing situations. The film by writer/director William Sachs (Galaxina), has an uneven tone, though it's supposedly not all his fault. Sachs claims he wanted something more campy and fun like the sci-fi flicks of the 50s, while the producers wanted a more serious horror flick and these artistic differences give the movie an unbalanced mix of serious moments and much lighter moments. But, the thing is, some of the more serious scenes come across as unintentionally funny and some of the humorous scenes meant to be funny, aren't successful in their attempt and just come across as awkward. So they are entertaining but, not for the right reasons. Sachs just doesn't quite have the right touch to mix horror and camp as say, Joe Dante did in Piranha and The Howling though, it would appear that's what he was going for. But, either way, this production's heart is in the right place and the really cool work by future Oscar winner Baker is very effective… and of course all the intentional and unintentional entertainment it provides, is worth watching it for. The filmmakers were really trying hard here to deliver a new and horrifying movie monster but, the talent (aside from Baker) is just not quite there behind or in front of the camera and the disagreement between director and producers doesn't help either. The acting is just as bad as the before mentioned dialog and the inept cast stumbling around finding body parts both of the victims and the Melting Man, produce far more laughs then chills. Also, some of the conversations between gore scenes are hilariously inappropriate, given the situations the characters are in and it's hard to tell how much of this was intentional and how much was not but, it's entertaining either way so, ultimately, it doesn't really matter. To a degree Sachs got the kind of campy fun movie he was trying to make but, it's not totally on purpose. Made by the legendary American International Pictures, Melting Man has earned cult classic status and has become one of MST3K's funnier episodes and if you are a connoisseur of 'so bad it's good' cinema then this is a prime example. The added nostalgia of this late 70s flick only makes it even more fun. The kind of movie they sadly don't make anymore and a personal guilty pleasure of mine. Thankfully Melting Man is now available on a gorgeous extra filled blu-ray from the folks at Scream Factory!