The Incredible Melting Man
Encyclopedia
The Incredible Melting Man is a 1977 American science fiction
horror film
about an astronaut
whose body begins to melt after he is exposed to radiation
during a space flight to Saturn
, driving him to commit murders and consume human flesh to survive. Written and directed by William Sachs, the film starred Alex Rebar as Steve West, the antagonist
of the title, alongside Burr DeBenning
as a scientist trying to help him, and Myron Healey
as a United States Air Force
general seeking to capture him.
The screenplay was originally intended as a parody of horror films, but comedic scenes were edited out during production and new horror scenes added. Sachs claims that the producers decided during shooting that a straight horror film would be more financially successful, and that the film suffered as a result. The Incredible Melting Man was produced by American International Pictures
, which also handled the theatrical distribution. The film includes several homages to science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Makeup
artist Rick Baker provided the gory makeup effects for the film. He originally created four distinct stages of makeup design so the antagonist would appear to gradually melt, but the stages were ultimately cut from the final film.
The film received largely negative reviews and has ranked among the Bottom 100 list of films on the Internet Movie Database
, although even critical reviews complimented Baker's makeup effects. The Incredible Melting Man was featured in the comedy It Came from Hollywood
(1982) and inspired the makeup effects for scenes in the films The Return of the Living Dead (1985) and RoboCop
(1987). It also featured in a seventh season episode of the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000
.
, three astronaut
s are exposed to a blast of radiation
which kills two of them and seriously injures the third, Steve West (Alex Rebar). He is next shown unconscious in a hospital back on Earth
, with bandages covering his face; his physician, Dr. Loring (Lisle Wilson
), cannot explain what is happening to West or how he survived the blast. After the doctor leaves, West awakens and is horrified to find the flesh on his face and hands melting away. Hysterical, he attacks and kills a nurse (Bonnie Inch), then escapes the hospital in a panic. Loring and Dr. Theodore "Ted" Nelson (Burr DeBenning
), a scientist and friend of West, discover that the nurse's corpse is emitting feeble radiation, and realize West's body has become radioactive. Nelson believes West has gone insane, and concludes he must consume human flesh in order to slow the melting. Nelson calls General Michael Perry (Myron Healey
), a United States Air Force
officer familiar with West's accident, and the general agrees to help Nelson find him.
West attacks and kills a fisherman in a wood, then encounters and frightens a little girl (Julie Drazen) there, but she escapes unharmed. Nelson tracks West by following his radiation trail with a geiger counter
, but only finds his detached ear stuck to a tree branch, not West himself. Perry arrives by plane, and is picked up by Nelson; shortly thereafter, they visit the crime scene where the fisherman's body was found. Sheriff Neil Blake (Michael Alldredge
) suspects that Nelson knows something, but Nelson tells the sheriff nothing because Perry earlier told him information about West is classified. Later that night, Nelson returns home to his pregnant wife Judy (Ann Sweeny), who tells him that her elderly mother Helen (Dorothy Love) and Helen's boyfriend Harold (Edwin Max) are coming over for dinner. On their way, however, Helen and Harold are attacked by West in their car, and he kills them both.
When Blake finds the bodies, he calls Nelson, who comes out to identify them. After Blake angrily demands an explanation, Nelson reluctantly reveals West's condition. Nelson believes West is somehow getting stronger the more his body decomposes. Back at Nelson's house, West attacks and kills Perry, although Judy is not harmed. Nelson and Blake arrive just as West escapes. West then stumbles upon the home of a married couple (played by Jonathan Demme
and Janus Blythe). West kills the man and attacks his wife, but she drives him away after chopping his arm off with a kitchen knife. Blake receives a call about the attack and takes Nelson with him to investigate. They follow West to a giant power plant, and then up several flights of outside stairways.
Blake tries to shoot West with a shotgun, but the blasts do not stop West, who throws the sheriff over the railing into power lines, killing him. West hits Nelson and knocks him over the railing, leaving the doctor hanging on the side. Nelson appeals to West, reminding him that they were friends, and West decides to pull Nelson to safety. Two armed security guards then arrive and, in a panic, fatally shoot Nelson as he tries to protect West. An infuriated West kills the security guards and stumbles away. After collapsing against the side of a building, he slowly melts completely away. The next morning, a janitor finds his gory remains and casually mops them into a garbage can. The film ends with a radio news report about a fresh astronaut team being sent to Saturn, implying the possibility of a future accident.
and the 1995 book Cult Science Fiction Films – describe the film as a remake
of First Man into Space
(1959), another film about an astronaut who becomes a monster after an accident in space. Science fiction film historian Gene Wright suggests that the film was heavily influenced by The Quatermass Xperiment
(1955), a British horror film about an astronaut who begins mutating into an alien organism after a spaceflight. Sachs claims The Incredible Melting Man was originally written as a parody
of horror films. According to Michael Adams, a film reviewer who interviewed Sachs, this is why the film mixes horror with comedic moments, such as when Steve West's detached ear gets stuck on a tree, and when a janitor sweeps West's melted body into a garbage can at the end of the film. Adams claims that this explains several comedic lines of dialogue otherwise inconsistent with the rest of the film, including one moment when homeless men notice the melting West and say to each other, "You think we've got trouble, look at that dude."
Welch D. Everman, author of Cult Science Fiction Films, points to several homage
s in the movie to science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. The title itself is a reference to the Jack Arnold film The Incredible Shrinking Man
(1957), and the final scene when a radio report advertises another trip to Saturn, thus hinting that another accident could occur, was a common device in 1950s horror films. One difference, noted by Everman, is that in the 1950s films, government cover-ups and secret agendas were often ascribed to the good of the general public, whereas The Incredible Melting Man, like many late 1970s films of its genre, suggests otherwise. Variety
describes the script, in addition to its horror elements, as "a human story attempting to leave a moral message as to whether society or the horrible creature it is chasing is really the most destructive." The script never fully explains how West's spacecraft returned to Earth from Saturn when West himself was so seriously injured and the other two members of his crew were both killed.
Steve West, one of only a handful of film appearances throughout his acting career. Burr DeBenning played Dr. Ted Nelson, and General Michael Perry was portrayed by Myron Healey, who was, Everman notes, often cast as a villain in 1950s science fiction films. Film director Jonathan Demme played the small role of Matt Winters, one of West's victims. Rainbeaux Smith
, best known for her appearances in B movies and exploitation film
s, appeared in The Incredible Melting Man as a model who finds one of West's victims while trying to avoid a photographer seeking to take explicit photos of her.
, best known for his horror and supernatural films, provided the financing for The Incredible Melting Man. Samuel W. Gelfman was the film's producer, and American International Pictures served as both the production company and the distributor. According to director William Sachs, the producers decided during shooting that a straight horror film would be more financially successful than a parody, so many of the comedic scenes were edited out and new horror scenes were shot and added to the film. Sachs said he felt the film was taken away from him, and that it suffered as a result because the producers tried to make it both a comedy and horror film, thus failing at both. Sachs said of the decision, "How can a serious horror movie end with the monster being shoveled into a garbage can?"
Makeup
artist Rick Baker provided the special makeup effects for The Incredible Melting Man, which included the gradual melting of Steve West. Actor Alex Rebar wore facial appliances that simulated melting flesh, and his hands and feet were fitted with liquid substances that dropped off as he walked, creating the appearance that West's body was falling apart. During one scene, a murdered fisherman's decapitated head falls down a waterfall and smashes on the rocks below. To create the effect, Baker used a gelatin
head with a wax skull and fake blood inside, which burst out upon impact.
Baker created four distinct stages of make-up design for the protagonist, so Steve West would appear to gradually melt as time passed. However, after the film went through two separate stages of editing, these make-up stages were ultimately eliminated from the final cut, and the character looks generally the same throughout the film. Richard Meyers, author of The World of Fantasy Films, said actor Alex Rebar was impatient and uncooperative with the extensive make-up sessions required for the effects, and thus did not wear all of the facial appliances Baker designed. This, Meyers said, may have been an additional factor in the lack of make-up effect stages in the final film. Initially, Sachs did not plan to show any scenes with Steve West before he sustained the radiation poisoning that caused his body to melt, although some such scenes were ultimately included.
Harry Woolman
worked on the special effects along with Baker, and Willy Curtis worked as the film's cinematographer. Some scenes included photography errors, including one in which light shines through a kitchen window from outside even though it is supposed to be nighttime. Michel Levesque provided art direction, and the musical score was composed by London Philharmonic Orchestra
conductor Arlon Ober.
with the involvement of film producer and distributor Irwin Yablans
, who specialized primarily in B movies and low-budget horror films. A trailer released for the film attempted to build tension by not revealing the monster right away. Instead, it showed portions of the scene immediately before the nurse is murdered, in which she runs down a hallway screaming and then crashes through a glass window trying to escape from Steve West, who is only shown towards the end of the trailer. In some advertisements, the monster from the film was described as "the first NEW horror creature." As a promotional gimmick, candles were made and sold to advertise the film.
One poster for the film included the statement: "Rick Baker, the new master of special effects, who brought you the magic of The Exorcist
and gave you the wonder of King Kong
, now brings you his greatest creation, The Incredible Melting Man." Although Baker assisted with the effects in The Exorcist (1973), Dick Smith was the make-up artist who primarily worked on that film, not Baker. The Exorcist director William Friedkin
was so angry about the poster that, upon seeing it on an associate's wall, he tore it down and ripped it to pieces. Baker, who did not know about the poster in advance, was horrified by the publicity campaign and publicly apologized for it, claiming: "Dick wanted some help so I first went out to do some work on the dummy whose head turns around 360 degrees. I really didn't do anything creative, I just did labor."
. Tom Buckley of The New York Times
described it as poorly written and directed, calling it one of many poor summer films released "to fill the need of drive-in operators for something cheap to put on the screen for the kids in the cars to ignore or laugh at." The Globe and Mail
writer Robert Martin praised Rick Baker's make-up effects and said director William Sachs did an efficient job building tension. However, Martin strongly criticized the script and the acting, claiming "logic and character are jettisoned in favor of suspense and horror", and said the film's positive elements were not strong enough to outweigh the negatives. John Foyston of The Oregonian
strongly condemned the film as gratuitously gory with thin, motiveless characters. He declared it worse than the horror film Manos: The Hands of Fate
(1966), which is widely considered one of the worst films ever made. Rick Worland, a film professor at the Meadows School of the Arts
who wrote a book about horror films, said there was "little to recommend" about The Incredible Melting Man besides Baker's make-up effects. Richard Meyers, a novelist who also wrote about science-fiction films, called the film muddled and dull: "Although the movie didn't have to be a sage examination of outer space diseases, it should at least have been exciting." Meyers complimented Baker's visual effects, but said his work was undermined by poor filming and actor Rebar's impatience with the make-up effects.
A 1985 review in the book The Motion Picture Guide wrote, "The film tries to balance horror against morality but ends up shaky at best." The review described the special effects as "all right, but not nearly as gruesome as the film pretends they are." In a review written shortly after the film was released, Variety wrote the film "more often than not succeeds in telling a story and sustaining audience interest", and that the script included not only horrors, but also a human story with a moral message about society. However, the review also called the dialogue "trite", described some scenes as "technically incorrect", and said the film disappointed by lingering on the ordinary characters rather the monster protagonist. Gene Wright, who wrote a book about science fiction films, said the film "attempts to blend pathos with awesome horror, but can't resist going for the gut with a surfeit of gore." Blockbuster Inc.'s Guide to Movies and Videos gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, and described the it as "unexciting and contrived, though Rick Baker's gross-out makeup is undeniably effective." In The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies, Phil Hardy described it as a better-than-average but "spotty" film, and said director William Sachs injected a sense of "grisly humor" into it. However, Hardy said the protagonist character inspired more laughter than terror, and called the special effects "only routine".
Some reviews were more positive. Welch D. Everman, author of Cult Science Fiction Films, compared the relationship between West and Nelson to that of Victor Frankenstein
and his monster
in Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein
(1818). Everman wrote, "This is the kind of movie we've come to expect from AIP — cheaply made, nasty, and lots of fun." John W. Bowen of the Belleville Intelligencer
said he enjoyed the "camp
" style of the film, adding, "It's both inexplicable and sad this brain-damaged yet fiercly determined little drive-in bottom feeder never garnered more than a tiny cult following over the years." A 1978 critique in The Review of the News said, "Films like The Incredible Melting Man are not made to be good; they are made to be scary. For anyone looking to raise goosebumps on their flesh, this one is sufficient to give you your money's worth." Matt Maiellaro
, co-creator of the Cartoon Network
series Aqua Teen Hunger Force
, said the film inspired him to start making films himself, adding, "When I was eight, I watched The Incredible Melting Man and knew that horror movies were going to be big religion in my life." Z movie
director Tim Ritter said he was partially inspired to enter show business by watching a trailer for The Incredible Melting Man at age nine. Ritter said, "I was too young to see the movie, but the trailer really got into my imagination."
in 1986 by Vestron Video
, and was rereleased in 1994 by Orion Pictures Library
, although unlike other Orion VHS releases, it was not digitally remastered. In September 2000, The Incredible Melting Man was once again released on VHS as part of Midnite Movies
, a line of B movies and exploitation film
s released to home video by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
.
, a 1982 comedy film featuring a compilation of clips from more than 100 B movies from the 1930s to the 1970s, which are shown between scripted segments performed by comedians. Rick Baker's effects from The Incredible Melting Man inspired the makeup effects for a scene in the science fiction-action film RoboCop
(1987). During the scene, a criminal attempts to drive RoboCop
off the road, but instead accidentally drives into a vat of toxic waste, causing the flesh to melt off his face and hands. These effects were conceived and designed by Rob Bottin
, the special makeup effects artist who worked on RoboCop. Bottin was inspired by Baker's work on The Incredible Melting Man, and dubbed the RoboCop effects "the Melting Man" as an homage to the production.
The 1985 zombie
film The Return of the Living Dead, features a very similar looking creature known as "Tar-Man" who is in fact a rotting corpse released from a canister containing many chemicals which could explain why its body is melting away. The character has made cameos in the film's sequels.
The Incredible Melting Man was featured a seventh season episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a comedy television series in which the characters watch bad movies and make jokes at their expense. The film appeared in the fourth episode of the seventh season, which was broadcast on Comedy Central
on February 24, 1996. Michael J. Nelson
, the show's head writer who also plays a fictional character of the same name
, spoke disparagingly about the film while describing it to the press: "The plot is – and I'm not kidding here – the plot is, a guy is melting. That's the plot."
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
about an astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
whose body begins to melt after he is exposed to radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
during a space flight to Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, driving him to commit murders and consume human flesh to survive. Written and directed by William Sachs, the film starred Alex Rebar as Steve West, the antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
of the title, alongside Burr DeBenning
Burr DeBenning
Burr DeBenning was an American character actor, who has done work in both film and television. DeBenning appeared in nearly 100 films and TV shows during his career. His credits include the television films The House on Greenapple Road, Wolfen, The Incredible Melting Man, A Nightmare on Elm...
as a scientist trying to help him, and Myron Healey
Myron Healey
Myron Daniel Healey was an American actor. He began his Hollywood, California, career during the early 1940s in bit parts and minor supporting roles at various studios.-Early years:...
as a United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
general seeking to capture him.
The screenplay was originally intended as a parody of horror films, but comedic scenes were edited out during production and new horror scenes added. Sachs claims that the producers decided during shooting that a straight horror film would be more financially successful, and that the film suffered as a result. The Incredible Melting Man was produced by American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
, which also handled the theatrical distribution. The film includes several homages to science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Makeup
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...
artist Rick Baker provided the gory makeup effects for the film. He originally created four distinct stages of makeup design so the antagonist would appear to gradually melt, but the stages were ultimately cut from the final film.
The film received largely negative reviews and has ranked among the Bottom 100 list of films on the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
, although even critical reviews complimented Baker's makeup effects. The Incredible Melting Man was featured in the comedy It Came from Hollywood
It Came From Hollywood
It Came from Hollywood is a 1982 comedy film compiling clips from various B movies. Written by Dana Olsen and directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt, the film features wraparound segments and narration by several famous comedians, including Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner, and Cheech and Chong...
(1982) and inspired the makeup effects for scenes in the films The Return of the Living Dead (1985) and RoboCop
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
(1987). It also featured in a seventh season episode of the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
.
Plot
During a space flight to SaturnSaturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, three astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s are exposed to a blast of radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
which kills two of them and seriously injures the third, Steve West (Alex Rebar). He is next shown unconscious in a hospital back on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, with bandages covering his face; his physician, Dr. Loring (Lisle Wilson
Lisle Wilson
Lisle Astor Wilson was an American actor known for playing Leonard Taylor on the ABC sitcom That's My Mama which ran from 1974 to 1975. He was also widely recognized for his guest appearances on television shows such as Lou Grant, The White Shadow, and Falcon Crest, to name a few...
), cannot explain what is happening to West or how he survived the blast. After the doctor leaves, West awakens and is horrified to find the flesh on his face and hands melting away. Hysterical, he attacks and kills a nurse (Bonnie Inch), then escapes the hospital in a panic. Loring and Dr. Theodore "Ted" Nelson (Burr DeBenning
Burr DeBenning
Burr DeBenning was an American character actor, who has done work in both film and television. DeBenning appeared in nearly 100 films and TV shows during his career. His credits include the television films The House on Greenapple Road, Wolfen, The Incredible Melting Man, A Nightmare on Elm...
), a scientist and friend of West, discover that the nurse's corpse is emitting feeble radiation, and realize West's body has become radioactive. Nelson believes West has gone insane, and concludes he must consume human flesh in order to slow the melting. Nelson calls General Michael Perry (Myron Healey
Myron Healey
Myron Daniel Healey was an American actor. He began his Hollywood, California, career during the early 1940s in bit parts and minor supporting roles at various studios.-Early years:...
), a United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
officer familiar with West's accident, and the general agrees to help Nelson find him.
West attacks and kills a fisherman in a wood, then encounters and frightens a little girl (Julie Drazen) there, but she escapes unharmed. Nelson tracks West by following his radiation trail with a geiger counter
Geiger counter
A Geiger counter, also called a Geiger–Müller counter, is a type of particle detector that measures ionizing radiation. They detect the emission of nuclear radiation: alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays. A Geiger counter detects radiation by ionization produced in a low-pressure gas in a...
, but only finds his detached ear stuck to a tree branch, not West himself. Perry arrives by plane, and is picked up by Nelson; shortly thereafter, they visit the crime scene where the fisherman's body was found. Sheriff Neil Blake (Michael Alldredge
Michael Alldredge
Michael Alldredge was an American film and television actor. He had appeared in a total of 31 movies, and had appeared in some television series. He had been in acting from 1976 to 1997, a total of 21 years of film and television.-External links:...
) suspects that Nelson knows something, but Nelson tells the sheriff nothing because Perry earlier told him information about West is classified. Later that night, Nelson returns home to his pregnant wife Judy (Ann Sweeny), who tells him that her elderly mother Helen (Dorothy Love) and Helen's boyfriend Harold (Edwin Max) are coming over for dinner. On their way, however, Helen and Harold are attacked by West in their car, and he kills them both.
When Blake finds the bodies, he calls Nelson, who comes out to identify them. After Blake angrily demands an explanation, Nelson reluctantly reveals West's condition. Nelson believes West is somehow getting stronger the more his body decomposes. Back at Nelson's house, West attacks and kills Perry, although Judy is not harmed. Nelson and Blake arrive just as West escapes. West then stumbles upon the home of a married couple (played by Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
and Janus Blythe). West kills the man and attacks his wife, but she drives him away after chopping his arm off with a kitchen knife. Blake receives a call about the attack and takes Nelson with him to investigate. They follow West to a giant power plant, and then up several flights of outside stairways.
Blake tries to shoot West with a shotgun, but the blasts do not stop West, who throws the sheriff over the railing into power lines, killing him. West hits Nelson and knocks him over the railing, leaving the doctor hanging on the side. Nelson appeals to West, reminding him that they were friends, and West decides to pull Nelson to safety. Two armed security guards then arrive and, in a panic, fatally shoot Nelson as he tries to protect West. An infuriated West kills the security guards and stumbles away. After collapsing against the side of a building, he slowly melts completely away. The next morning, a janitor finds his gory remains and casually mops them into a garbage can. The film ends with a radio news report about a fresh astronaut team being sent to Saturn, implying the possibility of a future accident.
Writing
The Incredible Melting Man was written and directed by filmmaker William Sachs. Some sources – including the film magazine CinefantastiqueCinefantastique
Cinefantastique was a horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke...
and the 1995 book Cult Science Fiction Films – describe the film as a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of First Man into Space
First Man into Space
First Man into Space is a 1959 science fiction horror film directed by Robert Day and distributed by Amalgamated films.- Plot :...
(1959), another film about an astronaut who becomes a monster after an accident in space. Science fiction film historian Gene Wright suggests that the film was heavily influenced by The Quatermass Xperiment
The Quatermass Xperiment
The Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it was based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. It was directed by Val Guest and stars Brian Donlevy as the eponymous Professor Bernard...
(1955), a British horror film about an astronaut who begins mutating into an alien organism after a spaceflight. Sachs claims The Incredible Melting Man was originally written as a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of horror films. According to Michael Adams, a film reviewer who interviewed Sachs, this is why the film mixes horror with comedic moments, such as when Steve West's detached ear gets stuck on a tree, and when a janitor sweeps West's melted body into a garbage can at the end of the film. Adams claims that this explains several comedic lines of dialogue otherwise inconsistent with the rest of the film, including one moment when homeless men notice the melting West and say to each other, "You think we've got trouble, look at that dude."
Welch D. Everman, author of Cult Science Fiction Films, points to several homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
s in the movie to science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. The title itself is a reference to the Jack Arnold film The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man is a 1957 science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold and adapted for the screen by Richard Matheson from his novel The Shrinking Man ....
(1957), and the final scene when a radio report advertises another trip to Saturn, thus hinting that another accident could occur, was a common device in 1950s horror films. One difference, noted by Everman, is that in the 1950s films, government cover-ups and secret agendas were often ascribed to the good of the general public, whereas The Incredible Melting Man, like many late 1970s films of its genre, suggests otherwise. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
describes the script, in addition to its horror elements, as "a human story attempting to leave a moral message as to whether society or the horrible creature it is chasing is really the most destructive." The script never fully explains how West's spacecraft returned to Earth from Saturn when West himself was so seriously injured and the other two members of his crew were both killed.
Casting
Alex Rebar starred as antagonistAntagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
Steve West, one of only a handful of film appearances throughout his acting career. Burr DeBenning played Dr. Ted Nelson, and General Michael Perry was portrayed by Myron Healey, who was, Everman notes, often cast as a villain in 1950s science fiction films. Film director Jonathan Demme played the small role of Matt Winters, one of West's victims. Rainbeaux Smith
Rainbeaux Smith
Cheryl Lynn "Rainbeaux" Smith was an American actress. She was known for her role in the exploitation film Caged Heat.-Career:...
, best known for her appearances in B movies and exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
s, appeared in The Incredible Melting Man as a model who finds one of West's victims while trying to avoid a photographer seeking to take explicit photos of her.
Filming
Producer Max RosenbergMax Rosenberg
Max J. Rosenberg was an American film producer, whose film career stretched across six decades. He was particularly noted for his horror or supernatural films, and found much of his success while working in England....
, best known for his horror and supernatural films, provided the financing for The Incredible Melting Man. Samuel W. Gelfman was the film's producer, and American International Pictures served as both the production company and the distributor. According to director William Sachs, the producers decided during shooting that a straight horror film would be more financially successful than a parody, so many of the comedic scenes were edited out and new horror scenes were shot and added to the film. Sachs said he felt the film was taken away from him, and that it suffered as a result because the producers tried to make it both a comedy and horror film, thus failing at both. Sachs said of the decision, "How can a serious horror movie end with the monster being shoveled into a garbage can?"
Makeup
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...
artist Rick Baker provided the special makeup effects for The Incredible Melting Man, which included the gradual melting of Steve West. Actor Alex Rebar wore facial appliances that simulated melting flesh, and his hands and feet were fitted with liquid substances that dropped off as he walked, creating the appearance that West's body was falling apart. During one scene, a murdered fisherman's decapitated head falls down a waterfall and smashes on the rocks below. To create the effect, Baker used a gelatin
Gelatin
Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle , flavorless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning in a similar...
head with a wax skull and fake blood inside, which burst out upon impact.
Baker created four distinct stages of make-up design for the protagonist, so Steve West would appear to gradually melt as time passed. However, after the film went through two separate stages of editing, these make-up stages were ultimately eliminated from the final cut, and the character looks generally the same throughout the film. Richard Meyers, author of The World of Fantasy Films, said actor Alex Rebar was impatient and uncooperative with the extensive make-up sessions required for the effects, and thus did not wear all of the facial appliances Baker designed. This, Meyers said, may have been an additional factor in the lack of make-up effect stages in the final film. Initially, Sachs did not plan to show any scenes with Steve West before he sustained the radiation poisoning that caused his body to melt, although some such scenes were ultimately included.
Harry Woolman
Harry Woolman
Harry Simon Woolman was a race-circuit, film, and TV stuntman, specializing in motorcycle jumps, car crashes, and pyrotechnics, from the 1930s through the early 1960s. From the 1960s until his retirement in the mid-1980s, he designed mechanical special effects for films and television...
worked on the special effects along with Baker, and Willy Curtis worked as the film's cinematographer. Some scenes included photography errors, including one in which light shines through a kitchen window from outside even though it is supposed to be nighttime. Michel Levesque provided art direction, and the musical score was composed by London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
conductor Arlon Ober.
Distribution
The distribution of The Incredible Melting Man was handled by American International Pictures,with the involvement of film producer and distributor Irwin Yablans
Irwin Yablans
Irwin Yablans is an American independent film producer and distributor known for his work in the horror film industry.-Biography:...
, who specialized primarily in B movies and low-budget horror films. A trailer released for the film attempted to build tension by not revealing the monster right away. Instead, it showed portions of the scene immediately before the nurse is murdered, in which she runs down a hallway screaming and then crashes through a glass window trying to escape from Steve West, who is only shown towards the end of the trailer. In some advertisements, the monster from the film was described as "the first NEW horror creature." As a promotional gimmick, candles were made and sold to advertise the film.
One poster for the film included the statement: "Rick Baker, the new master of special effects, who brought you the magic of The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
and gave you the wonder of King Kong
King Kong (1976 film)
King Kong is a 1976 American monster movie produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Guillermin. It is a remake of the 1933 classic film of the same name, about a giant ape that is captured and imported to New York City for exhibition....
, now brings you his greatest creation, The Incredible Melting Man." Although Baker assisted with the effects in The Exorcist (1973), Dick Smith was the make-up artist who primarily worked on that film, not Baker. The Exorcist director William Friedkin
William Friedkin
William Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
was so angry about the poster that, upon seeing it on an associate's wall, he tore it down and ripped it to pieces. Baker, who did not know about the poster in advance, was horrified by the publicity campaign and publicly apologized for it, claiming: "Dick wanted some help so I first went out to do some work on the dummy whose head turns around 360 degrees. I really didn't do anything creative, I just did labor."
Reception
The Incredible Melting Man received largely negative reviews, and has ranked among the Bottom 100 list of films on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
. Tom Buckley of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described it as poorly written and directed, calling it one of many poor summer films released "to fill the need of drive-in operators for something cheap to put on the screen for the kids in the cars to ignore or laugh at." The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
writer Robert Martin praised Rick Baker's make-up effects and said director William Sachs did an efficient job building tension. However, Martin strongly criticized the script and the acting, claiming "logic and character are jettisoned in favor of suspense and horror", and said the film's positive elements were not strong enough to outweigh the negatives. John Foyston of The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
strongly condemned the film as gratuitously gory with thin, motiveless characters. He declared it worse than the horror film Manos: The Hands of Fate
Manos: The Hands of Fate
Manos: The Hands of Fate is an American horror film written, directed, produced by, and starring Harold P. Warren. It is widely recognized to be one of the worst films ever made...
(1966), which is widely considered one of the worst films ever made. Rick Worland, a film professor at the Meadows School of the Arts
Meadows School of the Arts
The Meadows School of the Arts is an art institute in Southern Methodist University, University Park, Texas, USA. It is known for its professional music, dance, theatre, art, art history, arts administration, and advertising programs, as well as its cinema, journalism, media, and public relations...
who wrote a book about horror films, said there was "little to recommend" about The Incredible Melting Man besides Baker's make-up effects. Richard Meyers, a novelist who also wrote about science-fiction films, called the film muddled and dull: "Although the movie didn't have to be a sage examination of outer space diseases, it should at least have been exciting." Meyers complimented Baker's visual effects, but said his work was undermined by poor filming and actor Rebar's impatience with the make-up effects.
A 1985 review in the book The Motion Picture Guide wrote, "The film tries to balance horror against morality but ends up shaky at best." The review described the special effects as "all right, but not nearly as gruesome as the film pretends they are." In a review written shortly after the film was released, Variety wrote the film "more often than not succeeds in telling a story and sustaining audience interest", and that the script included not only horrors, but also a human story with a moral message about society. However, the review also called the dialogue "trite", described some scenes as "technically incorrect", and said the film disappointed by lingering on the ordinary characters rather the monster protagonist. Gene Wright, who wrote a book about science fiction films, said the film "attempts to blend pathos with awesome horror, but can't resist going for the gut with a surfeit of gore." Blockbuster Inc.'s Guide to Movies and Videos gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, and described the it as "unexciting and contrived, though Rick Baker's gross-out makeup is undeniably effective." In The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies, Phil Hardy described it as a better-than-average but "spotty" film, and said director William Sachs injected a sense of "grisly humor" into it. However, Hardy said the protagonist character inspired more laughter than terror, and called the special effects "only routine".
Some reviews were more positive. Welch D. Everman, author of Cult Science Fiction Films, compared the relationship between West and Nelson to that of Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein was born in Napoli, is a Swiss fictional character and the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley...
and his monster
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
in Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
(1818). Everman wrote, "This is the kind of movie we've come to expect from AIP — cheaply made, nasty, and lots of fun." John W. Bowen of the Belleville Intelligencer
Belleville Intelligencer
The Intelligencer is the daily newspaper of Belleville, Ontario, Canada...
said he enjoyed the "camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
" style of the film, adding, "It's both inexplicable and sad this brain-damaged yet fiercly determined little drive-in bottom feeder never garnered more than a tiny cult following over the years." A 1978 critique in The Review of the News said, "Films like The Incredible Melting Man are not made to be good; they are made to be scary. For anyone looking to raise goosebumps on their flesh, this one is sufficient to give you your money's worth." Matt Maiellaro
Matt Maiellaro
Matthew Gerard Maiellaro is the co-creator and writer of the cult television animated Adult Swim shows, Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 and Perfect Hair Forever, and creator of 12 Oz. Mouse...
, co-creator of the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
series Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force , retitled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 in 2011, is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network late night programing block, Adult Swim, as well as Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4 Canada's ADd block in Canada...
, said the film inspired him to start making films himself, adding, "When I was eight, I watched The Incredible Melting Man and knew that horror movies were going to be big religion in my life." Z movie
Z movie
The term Z movie arose in the mid-1960s as an informal description of certain unequivocally non-A films. It was soon adopted to characterize low-budget pictures with quality standards well below those of most B movies and even so-called C movies...
director Tim Ritter said he was partially inspired to enter show business by watching a trailer for The Incredible Melting Man at age nine. Ritter said, "I was too young to see the movie, but the trailer really got into my imagination."
Home Video Releases
The Incredible Melting Man was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in 1986 by Vestron Video
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1982 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market....
, and was rereleased in 1994 by Orion Pictures Library
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
, although unlike other Orion VHS releases, it was not digitally remastered. In September 2000, The Incredible Melting Man was once again released on VHS as part of Midnite Movies
Midnite Movies
Midnite Movies is a line of B movies released first on VHS then on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment then later Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The line was begun by MGM in March 2001 following its acquisition of Orion Pictures, which bought out Filmways, Inc., the owner of American International...
, a line of B movies and exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
s released to home video by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
.
The title was released as part of MGM's Manufactured-On-Demand DVD-R lineup in Region 1DVD region codeDVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
on August 23, 2011 and it was also released in Region 2 by CMV Laservision on February 2, 2003. In addition to the home video and DVD releases, The Incredible Melting Man has been featured in several film festivals, including the 1987 Visions Film Festival at the Enmore TheatreEnmore TheatreThe Enmore Theatre is a theatre and entertainment venue in Sydney. It is located on Enmore Road in the suburb of Enmore, south-west of the adjoining suburb, Newtown. It is a medium-sized venue...
in SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the 2007 B-Fest in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, the 2008 Horrorama Movie Festival in EnglewoodEnglewood, ColoradoThe city of Englewood is a Home Rule Municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. As of 2007, the city is estimated to have a total population of 32,532. Englewood is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. Englewood is located in the South Platte River Valley east of the...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and the 2010 Groovy B-Movie Marathon in DurhamDurham, North CarolinaDurham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Cultural references
The film appears in It Came from HollywoodIt Came From Hollywood
It Came from Hollywood is a 1982 comedy film compiling clips from various B movies. Written by Dana Olsen and directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt, the film features wraparound segments and narration by several famous comedians, including Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner, and Cheech and Chong...
, a 1982 comedy film featuring a compilation of clips from more than 100 B movies from the 1930s to the 1970s, which are shown between scripted segments performed by comedians. Rick Baker's effects from The Incredible Melting Man inspired the makeup effects for a scene in the science fiction-action film RoboCop
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
(1987). During the scene, a criminal attempts to drive RoboCop
RoboCop (character)
OCP Crime Prevention Unit 001 is a fictional Detroit cyborg police officer and protagonist from the feature film series of the same name. The character begins as a human being who is killed in the line of duty by a vicious crime gang...
off the road, but instead accidentally drives into a vat of toxic waste, causing the flesh to melt off his face and hands. These effects were conceived and designed by Rob Bottin
Rob Bottin
-Early life:He was born in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte, California. His father was a foreman for a van and storage company.-FX artist career:...
, the special makeup effects artist who worked on RoboCop. Bottin was inspired by Baker's work on The Incredible Melting Man, and dubbed the RoboCop effects "the Melting Man" as an homage to the production.
The 1985 zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
film The Return of the Living Dead, features a very similar looking creature known as "Tar-Man" who is in fact a rotting corpse released from a canister containing many chemicals which could explain why its body is melting away. The character has made cameos in the film's sequels.
The Incredible Melting Man was featured a seventh season episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a comedy television series in which the characters watch bad movies and make jokes at their expense. The film appeared in the fourth episode of the seventh season, which was broadcast on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
on February 24, 1996. Michael J. Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
, the show's head writer who also plays a fictional character of the same name
Mike Nelson (character)
Mike Nelson is a fictional character in the comedy science fiction television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Portrayed by actor/head writer Michael J. Nelson, Mike is a likable, sometimes dim temp worker from Wisconsin who comes to work for the mad scientists Dr...
, spoke disparagingly about the film while describing it to the press: "The plot is – and I'm not kidding here – the plot is, a guy is melting. That's the plot."