The Incredible Melting Man (1977)

Sheriff Neil Blake: "You better tell me what's going on around here before there's nobody left in this town."

By William Sachs
With Alex Rebar, Burr DeBenning and Myron Healey

The title of the movie felt so silly I wanted to see it. I have to say I was quite intrigued by the poster and also to witness how they pulled off the make up and special effects of a melting man.

In a near future, three astronauts are on a mission to Saturn. However, when they are about to see the sun through the rings of Saturn there is a malfunction and two members of the crew die instantly while the other is recovered but has suffered heavy radiation. When he wakes up in the hospital he is covered with bandages but he realizes his skin is horribly affected by the radiations and he appears to be constantly melting. His first reaction is rage but then instead of seeking help, he attacks the nurse and runs out in the wilderness...

Overall, the movie is pretty silly as the title might suggest. The story is quite simple and straightforward, the acting is quite poor and there are tons of inconsistencies. The movie has a few good scenes and the make up for the melting man is really well done, in a very gooey, slimy, gross way.

It is interesting how this substance of slime for what we assume to be bodily fluids, blood or skin is gross in itself. We found ourselves disgusted simply because of that substance that stains everything the melting man touch, whether it's on the ground or on a window. It's not really rational, but it works on a most human level.

This was well done, however the rest of the melting man wasn't up to par and sometimes he'd leave slime all around him and sometimes he wouldn't. His forearm gets cut off and he then walks with an arm from the shoulder down, while we can clearly see the actor's arm under a shirt.

The dialogues are quite weak, but there are a few scenes that are funny, especially the ones with the elderly couple, they were so hilarious. The movie clearly had a cheap budget and it shows, fortunately the make up didn't cost much but it shows in everything else and while a lot of movies manage to really captivate you despite being low budget, this one uses cheap tricks like slow motion scenes to make up for it and it doesn't work. The story can't save the film.

I liked: The slime gore horror. The make up.

I disliked: Poor dialogues. Annoying music. Lots of goofs and inconsistencies. Weird scenes transitions.

30/100
It's real value resides in the cheap and bad which for some allows a lot of movies to become golden. I know I've had that feeling with some other movies but it didn't happen here for me.