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Incredible
Melting Man, The
(1977) |
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1977 was the period in horror films when Hammer had fired its last and increasingly ineffective salvo, Exorcist had been succeeded by The Omen, the slasher cycle was set to explode onto the scene with Halloween and its clones and gore and special effects were about to take off into another sphere altogether with the arrival of artists like Tom Savini and Rick Baker. This movie is best remembered for Rick Baker's masterful make-up effects and little else.
The film begins with astronaut Steve and his two buddies in space approaching some rather bright and ominous lights. Steve appears to be thrilled at the spectacle exclaiming "You've never seen anything until you've seen the sun through the rings of Saturn", and you just know he will be regretting his words before too long. Moments later there is a terrible explosion and all contact is lost with Houston. We next see Steve lying motionless in an emergency ward of some nondescript hospital while some military big wigs are discussing his alarming "condition". Steve has apparently been exposed to some deadly rays which have rendered him a bubbling mass of melting skin with an insatiable appetite for human flesh! Not only is he unspeakably hideous with his charred face and hands but he has also assumed super human strength due to the radiation. He picks himself off his bed and chases a rather podgy nurse through the corridors of the hospital, devouring her head (off screen alas) before making off into the countryside where there are many unsuspecting victims available as further snacks. The horrible Melting Man next savages an innocent fisherman, no doubt for his appalling attempts at singing (and acting?) by ripping off his head in a petulant rage. He doesn't even bother eating the head which floats on merrily downstream. The doctors realize that Steve has to kill to live because he can only replicate his cells as long as he gets a fresh supply of human flesh. At the same time Steve's condition continues to deteriorate…he drips yukky, gooey slime as a calling card and as a trail and his appearance begins to resemble a badly overcooked extra cheese and pepperoni meatball pizza. The doctors pursue Steve with one of those cheap gold finding devices, but each hour that passes without snaring the diabolical Melting Man means more gruesome deaths along the slimy, gooey trail. How many innocents will Steve slaughter along his deadly journey and can be ever be stopped? The star of the show is undoubtedly Rick Baker the make up and special effects wizard who is responsible for the only half decent thing in the movie - the quite disgusting appearance of the Melting Man. However even Baker's heroics are wasted on an awful script and the most plodding, amateurish direction that could be imagined. The film is lacking any shred of tension and plays like a z-grade made for TV movie. The acting is uniformly rotten and the there is a distinct lack of imagination, style or wit. This film had the potential to be a genre classic (in the vein of Alligator) but sadly ends up as a deadly bore. Baker's efforts aside, the film is sadly a resounding failure on all counts. Interesting to note that Jonathan Demme is in the cast, something I am sure he would like to expunge from memory. The Incredible Melting Man is also an incredible bore and personally speaking I can't recall a movie that has been so effective in inducing sleep. I had to watch it for the sixth time before I managed to kick myself to remain awake till the end. May have medicinal qualities therefore as a cure for insomnia.
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