GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Michael O'Keefe Science Fiction from American International and directed/written by William Sachs. Astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar) returns from a flight to Saturn and something happens to him after being over-exposed to radiation. West becomes gelatinous and is compelled to go on a killing spree in need of human flesh to survive. The astronaut keeps melting as scientist Ted Nelson (Burr DeBenning) tries to aid him, while General Perry (Myron Healey) is urgent in capturing him. While filming, producers wanted some comedic scenes cut and replaced with new horror scenes. Kudos to Rick Baker for the gory melting effect makeup. Even some of the stages of melting were left on the cutting room floor. Attitudes toward poor acting became problematic. Nonetheless, the movie was considered a success.Other players: Julie Dazen, Michael Aldredge, Ann Sweeney, Dorothy Love, Jonathan Demme, Lisle Wilson and Edwin Max.

Leofwine_draca An interesting, updated gory variant of the QUATERMASS adventures from Hammer, with a lower budget and much less plot. The main reason this film exists is to showcase Rick Baker's awesome makeup effects which more than make up for the minimal dialogue and the pathetic attempts at pathos. The film is cheaply and poorly made with actors whom you've never heard of, and will never hear of again. While all acting is of sufficient standard for a film of this type, the only person that sounds out from the rest is Doctor Nelson, who is a believable man juggling his marriage and his best friend's destruction. He's not a good performer but he's memorable in his wool hat and parka.However the plot and acting aren't really anything to judge this film by, instead you have the Incredible Melting Man himself, a character that is frankly hilarious. Hearing "space noises" in his head as he wanders the countryside, this guy just comes off the worse for wear in every instance. He even leaves his ear on a tree! Incredibly, the deaths in this film seem to have been played for laughs - check out the scene where he beheads a fisherman! The highlight of the film is probably the scene where he attacks a young girl who cuts off one of his arms with a meat cleaver! The camera lingers on the still twitching digits of the severed hand in one of many neat touches.On an aesthetic level the film is disappointing, no Oscar-calibre material here, but the Incredible Melting Man makes for quite an effective monster. It's just a shame that he wasn't given much to do apart from run around in the dark. The effects of his melting face and the final disintegration are truly superb, Rick Baker sure knows his stuff. And who can forget the fantastic ending, where, as I once heard someone on the internet sum it up neatly, "The guy melted and they threw him in the trashcan!" An enjoyable obscurity from a forgotten era.

breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com The whole decade of the 1970s brought on a lot of change in several areas of life. People were advocating for peace rather than war. Some were fighting for civil liberties. Others were making strides in space exploration and some were pushing the limits that were everyday filmmaking. The 1970s for Hollywood received a jumble of new people who were making films that attracted audiences like never before. The horror genre was being exploited and tested to see how graphic directors could get away with showing their material to casual audiences. Science fiction movies were also on the rise with a number of films that inspired many future film crew professionals. For director William Sachs, having produced only a few films before this, took a hand at the horror and sci-fi genre. What turned out being only a literal 2-week shoot, has also been regarded as one of the worst films ever released. It is pretty bad, but it isn't the worst. It does have some moments to point out but it's more for if you just want to laugh at how silly the execution is.The story is about an astronaut named Steve West (Alex Rebar - probably his most memorable role) who went on a trip with others to Saturn to see the Sun of our solar system. Scientifically the trip doesn't make sense, but that's the least of the problems. After receiving some type of radiation trauma from the rays of the sun (via public domain stock footage), West is the only survivor. When he awakes, he discovers his skin is beginning to fall off. Expecting the worst, West begins to rage with fear and develops an appetite for human flesh. Dr. Ted Nelson (Burr DeBenning), a friend of West is ordered by Gen. Michael Perry (Myron Healey) to find him before word gets out and also figure out how West got that way. This plot would be okay if it held a little more weight. Sachs was also the writer for this project. The screenplay is too light on exposition and hardly develops its characters. There are subplots, but much of the material is just filler making them pointless. Padding is really a big one. The whole running time is just an extended cat & mouse chase.Also not helping that is 99% of the acting is dull and unconvincing except for maybe Sheriff Neil Blake (Michael Alldredge). The actor who's possibly the worst is Burr DeBenning. As the lead, his delivery is banal, carrying barely any hint of emotion. This is made all the more obvious when certain characters make extremely dumb decisions or lack any kind of deductive reasoning. Nobody can find a man who is literally melting and leaving trails everywhere he goes. Probably one of the more frustrating parts is not really getting to know the star of the film. Sachs script loves to indulge in giving its audience numerous playbacks of the first scene to West's poisoning. Yet, some viewers might actually like to get to know what's going on in West's mind other than the fateful day he went all brain stew on everyone. Audiences aren't given any reason as to why West went after people he knew other than he needed buckets of blood to survive. The creature idea itself isn't the most unique either (although only one film has been made about such a creature) but how it's treated visually is another story. Practical effects whiz Rick Baker (getting his kick- start from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)) was head of special makeup effects. Wow is the melting man actually believably unappealing. Alex Rebar in costume as the slimy fall apart man is visually nauseating and that's good. Taking into account the budget and how long it took to shoot the movie, that alone is a feat in itself. The rest of the horror relies on more gore than anything else. There is nothing to be scared about because of how quickly the acting takes one out of even remotely feeling that it could happen. There is a funny moment though. The credits aren't exactly clear but there is a scene involving to old folks driving. There acting is by no means good but if anything they provide the most energy to the film. It's truly ironic that two older actors can show up the rest of the entire cast when it comes to showing any emotion beyond seriousness.The last two components that need to be mentioned are camera-work and music. Willy Kurant took care of cinematography. Although mostly doing more of his native work for Belgian productions, Kurant does however give the film somewhat of a professional look. The lighting is clear and bright where it needs to be. The camera is also steady and that's always good. Arlon Ober composed the musical score. Ober who is more familiar with orchestrating and conducting still makes use of whatever he saw in this below average film. It's not a good score because of its typical 1970s sound using flutes, electronic piano and guitar. It's an odd combo and it would be one thing if it was experimental, but this film was trying to appeal to mainstream audiences, so no. It also doesn't help with bad acting that it makes the scenes feel over dramatized. What does work however is the motif theme for the melting man. The theme consists of sad sounding strings in full orchestra, which makes the character feel that more tragic. Unfortunately, it's still not that good of a film.The (though all too 70s) film score, well-lit cinematography and makeup effects are mostly well put together, nothing else is really that acceptable. Most of the acting is not even comically dry, almost all characters are one-dimensional and the padding makes the sit painfully slow.

twelvepointnine Like so many of the films that received the MST3K treatment, THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN never got the appreciation it deserves. Released in 1977, it echoes the hostile welcome encountered by many returned Vietnam veterans, their physical and mental scars still a common sight on the streets of North America. This makes TIMM is a highly critical piece of 1970s horror, and US societal history: Steve West (Alex Rebar), an astronaut, wakes up in a military hospital after being exposed to inexplicable space radiation. He quickly learns that his body is deteriorating at a horrific pace and in anguish he flees the facility. A NASA man (Burr DeBenning) is determined to find West to give him the medical treatment he needs, but in a Frankenstein's creature twist of fate, Steve encounters nothing but fear and disgust (not in the least from himself) before he finds altruism, at which moment it is too late for all involved. The final scene brings the masterful, harrowing finale of Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) to mind. There are several earlier films that, on superficial inspection, TIMM seems to borrow from, not in the least THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT from 1955 and THE AMAZING COLOSSAL BEAST (1957). But while these predecessors use the fear of the Other as an allegory for the Cold War –with clearly defined notions of Good and Evil– TIMM does not pick sides and stays much closer to home while giving the monster a face. Talking of which, through incredibly convincing makeup created by special effects master Rick Baker, Rebar manages to convey his despair wordlessly and gets under the viewer's skin in ways rarely seen in horror films.THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN is worth a (re-)watch the way it was intended, that is without the lazy vulgarity that MST3K seems to have a stake in. A 7.5/10.