Review for The Incredible Melting Man

The Incredible Melting Man tells the story of Steve West, an astronaut on a mission to land on Saturn (No I will not go into the ludicrous nature of that) and is exposed to an intense dose of radiation. This causes his body to literally melt with body parts oozing away from him as if he was some kind of gelatinous goo. Waking in hospital, he escapes, killing a nurse in slow motion on the way and runs away.

It is up to Ted Nelson to find him for the slightly sinister General Perry, who all want this to be kept a secret. As Steve continues to wander, his body begins to melt and he starts to kill without mercy, pulling people's heads off, attacking old people while they are stealing lemons and generally losing body parts as he does. Ted must try and reason with what is left of Steve before he hurts anyone else or indeed before he melts away completely.

This is one of the strangest films I have ever seen. On one hand, it is hilarious and on the other it is sickeningly gruesome. I would recommend you not eat while watching this film, especially anything sticky or gooey. (This is not a Nachos and Cheese film!) As you watch Steve melt away throughout the film you begin to regret consuming anything, but that goes somewhat to the flm's appeal. I loved the comedic elements, the almost Airplane-like unintentional comedy and the wooden performances. At one point there is a scene of a photographer forcing his model to become topless and it is so silly that you almost forget that there are amazing boobs on the screen. Though as with all 'so bad it's good films' I do wonder whether it is supposed to all be serious?

The make up and special effects provided by Oscar winning legend Rick Baker, who went on to do the amazing work on An American Werewolf in London are simply phenomenal.For the budget he had to work with, he created a lot of magic on the screen. It is true that some of the pieces look fake, but that lends to its charm and this almost ranks up there with The Evil Dead for just crazy, insane and disgusting effects.

However, if you are expecting a Five Star classic in any other department then this film isn't it. The acting is wooden, the writing makes no sense and the directing at times makes you wonder what they were thinking. Writer/Director William Sachs is not someone many will have heard of, unless you are a fan of B-Movie films. This isn't someone like a James Cameron working on Piranha Two who later went on to do amazing work, this is someone who continued to make films at this level. Sure, if you are a fan of the cheesy 1970/80s horror then you will enjoy this film, but if you are looking for 'The First New Horror Creature' that the posters and trailers promise, you might want to look at Swamp Thing or Toxic Avenger for the same kind of gooey, gruesome adventure.

Extras include a Super 8 Digest version of the film which is what many companies would do before the use of Home Video. This is the entire film shown in about seven minutes and includes most of the key scenes and removes all of the filler. It would be interesting to see this done with other films and reminds me of the 'Five Second Movies' from the That Guy With The Glasses website.

There is an interview with Director/Writer William Sachs and Make-up artists Rick Baker. They tell some interesting stories about how the film was made and Sachs confirms that it is supposed to be a Horror/Comedy and that this was something that many people (Rick Baker included) didn't get. The Commentary by William Sachs is pretty good, my only issue is that it feels like he should have had someone there with him. He tells a lot of stories about how the film was made and all the challenges he had, but I think if Rick Baker had done it with him it would have been far more interesting.

Short Interview with Greg Cannon, who did some of the make-up and went on to win Oscars for Mrs Doubtfire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This is only less than three minutes and he really is just reflecting on this being his first job and the little pieces he did for it.

Trailer and Promo gallery round up the extras with the gallery being around five minutes of posters, promotional campaign material and still shots. As always, this would be better as an interactive gallery rather than a slideshow, but it is nice to have it all here.

The Incredible Melting Man is an incredible film. On one hand it is a 'so bad it's good' B-movie with some hilariously bad performances, terrible directing and a laughably bad script. On the other we have a film that has some superior and wonderful effects that really should have been used on some other film. It's almost like when you watch a terrible low budget film that stars an A-Lister. Sure they bring their gravitas, acting capabilities and overall quality to the film, but it is surrounded by so much badness you soon are unable to see it.

This film should be watched and is certainly enjoyable. Just don't take any of it seriously, or you may find your brain melting away.