My science-fiction itch was not scratched sufficiently by Andrew Niccol's disappointing In Time, which opens wide in the U.S. today, and so I sought solace in a film that I've never seen before, The Incredible Melting Man, which sounded from its premise like a horror-science fiction hybrid.
Released in December 1977, The Incredible Melting Man is an endearingly awful creature feature, without much horror or science fiction, although it can boast of gloriously gloopy special effects and make-up by Rick Baker. Written and directed by William Sachs, who would go on to make such deathless classics as Van Nuys Blvd. (filmed in my hometown!), Galaxina, and Hot Chili, the film follows what happens to the only astronaut to survive a disastrous space flight to Saturn.
Because of unexpected solar flares -- or something cosmic -- the other members of the crew were killed, but Steve West (Alex Rebar) managed to return to Earth despite his severe injuries. But he's a mess, literally, his condition sufficiently horrific to cause a nurse to scream out loud when she sees him. She screams even louder when he begins chasing her (?!!), running down a long, otherwise empty hallway and then bursting through a plate-glass door in an unsuccessful effort to escape him.
The nurse's solo escape attempt -- we don't actually see the heavily-bandaged Steve running after her -- is lovingly captured in super slow motion for no apparent reason, thus setting the tone for the rest of the movie, which settles contentedly into a barely-competent rut. Shot in a style that was commonly-used for television movies of the era, presumably to speed set-up time during shooting, the even, flat lighting eliminates most interior shadows as well as any visual interest. The exteriors are lit sufficiently so the actors and their actions can be seen, without regard to the reality of the moment.
Many of the dialogue scenes sound as though they're rehearsals that were captured on film and deemed "good enough" because they could be clearly heard. Most of the supporing cast delivers their lives as though they were handed a page or two of the script moments before the camera started rolling.
Burr DeBenning stars as Dr. Ted Nelson, a good friend of Steve, who is charged with finding him after he escapes. The orders come from General Perry (Myron Healey), who is evidently in charge of things. Why doesn't Gen. Perry send a platoon of men? BECAUSE EVERYTHING MUST REMAIN A SECRET. What I haven't mentioned, but should be obvious from the title of the movie, is that poor Steve is melting -- go right ahead and channel the voice of Margaret Hamilton crying out "I'm melting! I'm melting" in The Wizard of Oz -- and the government doesn't want the world to know that the first mission to Saturn proved to be a disaster.
Dr. Nelson complains about Gen. Perry, but that doesn't stop him from going home for lunch with his newly-pregnant wife Judy (Ann Sweeney), nor from bantering with her about the absence of crackers, and which one of them is actually responsible for the absence of crackers, and this is all good and fine BUT HIS FRIEND IS MELTING.
He really shouldn't say anything, but she's his wife, for Pete's sake, so Dr. Nelson mentions to Judy that his friend Steve is radioactive, which surprises her. "He's radioactive?" Dr. Nelson calms her down: "Just a little bit."
Meanwhile, Steve has encountered a stranger in the woods, and a moment later a severed head is floating down a stream ("Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...") and then the head gracefully plops over a waterfall. Coincidentally, two pre-teenage boys are caught smoking nearby by a neighbor girl, after which they all say: "C'mon, let's play down by the waterfall!" Soon thereafter, the young girl catches sight of Steve, who is walking haltingly because he's melting. She runs home, screaming about Frankenstein, prompting the two boys, one of them holding open a copy of Playboy Magazine, to laugh at her.
Speaking of nudity, a photographer is shooting a model (the great Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith) nearby. She's some kind of liberated woman -- "Don't call me baby!" -- and firmly resists his repeated requests to take off her top. The ape gropes her and pulls down her top anyway, thus exposing her breasts in broad daylight just long enough for her to stumble into the brush and discover a gruesome dead body.
The film, like its titular character, stumbles onward. Poor melting Steve also seems to have discovered a taste for human flesh (and lemons), so he takes a bite out of people, and then, like George A. Romero's zombies, returns to familiar places, including the home of his friend Dr. Ted Nelson, where Gen. Perry is spending the night, guarding Judy while Ted goes to meet the Sheriff, and noshing on some leftover turkey and downing a beer, EVEN THOUGH TIME IS RUNNING OUT AND THE NEXT SATURN MISSION IS LIFTING OFF IN THE MORNING.
The generous-minded will credit the filmmakers with a demented sense of humor, as well as the realization that they were making an extremely low-budget movie, most likely on an insanely-tight shooting schedule. Despite those limitations, young Rick Baker displays a fine taste for the gloop, and that's definitely the high point, along with the very fine two points exposed by the late Ms. Smith, who appears far too briefly. Her contagious high spirits would have been better utilized as Dr. Nelson's wife, but them's the breaks. Director Jonathan Demme has a small role.
Baker already had several years of experience under his belt by this point. I'd like to imagine that he used his experience on this film to do even better work in his succeeding films, such as The Fury in 1978, as well as his illustrious work in succeeding decades.
The Incredible Melting Man has moments of appeal for the dedicated fan of 70s creature features, but those moments are, unfortunately, few and far between.
The film is available in the U.S. via Netflix's Watch Instantly streaming program, which is how I viewed it; the source material looks fine. It also became available this year on DVD as part of MGM's "Limited Edition Collection," a manufactured-on-demand program available through select retailers.