The Incredible Melting Man

The Incredible Melting Man (1977)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: William Sachs

Starring: Alex Rebar, Burr DeBenning, Myron Healey, Michael Alldredge, Ann Sweeny

From: Quartet Productions/Rosenberg-Gelfman Productions

The Incredible Melting Man certainly was an oopy-goopy motion picture. Not my first choice for the night (long story) it’s a film I have a copy of-again, long story of how I “found” said copy. I’ve known of this picture for a little while; I’m happy to have body horror as part of Spooky Season this year. The most noteworthy aspects are the 70’s-riffic (that’s a compliment) score from Arlon Ober that includes electronic elements, and the effects from a legendary duo: Rick Baker and the late Greg Cannom, winners of a dozen Oscars between the two. This was early in the careers of both yet their prodigious talents were already on display.

Melting is not scientifically accurate; after all, it’s set in the late 70’s yet according to them, in a world that’s not an alternate universe, NASA in spacecraft akin to Apollo 13 can send men to SATURN… I’d rather ignore that plot point and instead pretend that the trio of men are simply in space by Earth when a solar flare occurs, killing two of the men and turning Steve into the title character. On Earth, he looks in the mirror, understandably flips out, and once escaping, going on a killer rampage. Frankly, the movie’s kind of dumb in general. A grand total of two characters start searching for the disintegrating Steve; this includes Ted, a doctor at NASA.

In addition, there were production issues; this was due to producer interference and them having someone else shoot new scenes. I feel bad for director William Sachs; the film was to be a horror-comedy but much of the latter was removed; it explains a few funny moments that might seem out of place. Thankfully, a wacky old couple (Ted’s in-laws) were left in, including their antics in a lemon orchard. This is flawed—there’s a reason why the movie was on an episode of MST3K.

All those complaints aside, I still liked the film. How 70’s it was-décor, clothing, the downbeat moments, etc. amused me. There still are some nice ideas that weren’t ruined by the interference; this includes some gruesome kills, such as a decapitation. The finished product does have some campy charm, an asset in this case. There are some familiar faces: Janice Blythe of The Hills Have Eyes fame, Burr DeBenning, a character actor I recognize from appearances in the likes of House of the Dead (no, not that one… an Amicus-style horror anthology made in Oklahoma) and no kidding, JONATHAN DEMME for like 30 seconds.

Don’t let the MST3K status of this movie dissuade you from giving Melting Man a shot. Note that another legend was a double for the title character: a teenage Rob Bottin.