Customer Reviews

The Incredible Melting Man

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The ending scene in this superlative film set an unusually high standard for special effects in cinema. We see the poor man sitting there, the live actor, skin all runny and saggy -- then, seamlessly, he dissolves right before our eyes. I have lain awake nights contemplating how they achieved that effect, for there was no cutaway, no editing, no shift of view: The man simply melted. One explanation is that the real actor truly did melt because we certainly never saw him again after this flick.

One of the bigger low budget horror films in the 1970s has made it to DVD via MGM MOD, while it may not be the pressed disc official release the transfer of this is really outstanding. It looks great in 18 x 9 widescreen with daytime scenes looking overall spectacular as well as the night scenes also being well done.

As for the film itself, for those not familiar with it, it is about a man , Steve (Alex Rebar) who is the survivor of three astronauts who fly to Saturn and get attacked by the planets radioactivity. He wakes up in a hospital bed only to find himself melting into a sticky gooey thing and needs blood to survive. He escapes from the hospital and is pursued by his friend, Dr. Ted Nelson (Burr Debenning) from the remainder of the film. Great special melting gore effects by Rick Baker. This also has B Movie legend Myron Healy as a General and Cheryl Rainbeaux Smith as a model. This has a little nudity and a modest amount of gore but nothing like a Lucio Fulci or Dario Argento gorefest. It has its campy moments, a little tongue in cheek and some lousy acting, but that's what makes these movies fun ! :)

The running time for this is 86 minutes, so as to whether it is 'uncut' or not I would say it could very well be. I have seen the Vipco DVD which was an awful Alpha Video looking transfer and the CMV laservision which was letterboxed and both seemed to be around the same running time.

The DVD also contains a full screen trailer.

I would say any fan of the film should pick this one up because it looks as good as its going to get and it is our long overdue USA release. MOD or not, this movie is a keeper for anyone who loves this genre.

I remember seeing the Incredible Melting Man as a child. It used was a film regularly aired by creature feature.I thought it was the most frightening movie of all time, and the melting man the scariest thing since Danny Glick from Salems Lot. I got the chance to see the Melting Man again a couple of years back courtesy of Blockbuster video, and I was surprised by how creepy I still found the film to be. Okay, so the acting is terrible, the plot rediculous, but the special effects are chillingly real, the music seethes as a sort of rabid sounding Three Dog Night, and hey, it's just plain scary. Fans of the horror genre will love it. I recomend it 100% to anyone looking for a cheap and creepy cinematic thrill. Beware of the woods and waterfalls, as I'm sure you will after you have seen the film. Good nasty fun with a pretty disturbing ending awaits!

Low budget, bad acting, terrible 70's clothing and no hint of a real plot! But great F/X (The Melting Man of Course!) Wall to wall gore! What more could you possibly want in a horror film! 100% better than the high budget slasher films of the 90's! After watching this film the viewer may want to fly through the rings of Saturn themselves! A must see for any horror fan!

I wish Amazon would start listing these DVD-R titles as MOD under "format" and not as a DVD. I'm afraid I'll accidently order one of these. Love what's being released and would definitely grab The Incredible Melting Man if made available as a pressed DVD or Blu-ray.

This classic from the seventies is about a astronaut returning to earth with a infected virus that makes him melt, then melting man goes on a hunger for human flesh. This movie is hardcore for the seventies with early FX by Rick Baker. MGM did a excellent job on the release the picture, and audio are clear, also we get a theater trailer as well. The movie is on dvd-r, but still it's a official release by MGM. It took a long time for this classic to hit dvd, get you copy before it's out of print!

THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN is touted on the video box as "The first new horror creature" (This is of course in 1977). With earlier 70s horror classics helping usher in a new era of grossness and graphic violence; among them THE GORE GORE GIRLS ('72), THE EXORCIST('73), THE OMEN & CARRIE (both '76); it's inevitable that someone should update the old creature features of the nuclear 1950s with the newer, innovative gross-out factor audiences the world over were pining for (Not me. I wasn't born until 1980).
Writer/Director William Sachs and the legendary Rick Baker delivered that in spades with their 1977 cult classic THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN.
Following an accident in space, the sole survivor; astronaut Steven West (Alex Rebar) awakens in hospital to find his flesh is melting and he is slowly going insane. Of course he does what anyone would do when faced with a distressing situation like this: he chases a chubby nurse down the corridor with a towel dangling from one nostril resulting in Nursey running through a pane glass window in slo-mo while being pursued by the Incredible Melting Man. Hilarious stuff.
After escaping West/Melting Man does what any other B horror creature would do. He goes on a violent rampage because the radiation is making his killer instinct grow and also making him stronger- but his mind is also decomposing. Pretty soon his collegue Dr Ted Nolan (Burr DeBenning) and the police are trying to stop the rampaging maniac before he infects the entire town.
INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN is actually pretty shallow, but how could you hate a movie like this? Amusing bits include the head of one of the Melting Man's victims floating downstream and over a waterfall and a couple of kids aged around 10 smoking. Oh no! How injurious to the NZ public good! Anyway their game of hide and seek goes awry when the girl finds some "sticky stuff" on a tree. What it is is anyone's guess. (No, it's not sasquatch snot).
If, like me you get excited when you come across a really bad horror movie you'll definately get a kick out of this. MELTING MAN is true midnight movie material. Baker's FX are what make this worth watching- especially the finale.
PS: Several of the actors had their voices dubbed for this movie (including Rebar).
PPS: Yes, there is a brief flash of boobies; so INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN has all the ingredients that make a cult movie special. Check it out.

I remember seeing this film when it first came out in 1977 with my brother and uncle! I remember thinking it was awesome then. Now it looks kind of crude but that is part of the appeal! I was excited to see mgm offer it on video a year ago,hope they offer it on dvd soon! Rick Bakers cool melting man efx really carry this film not the amateurish actors. Worth a look for sci-fi and horror fans!

A movie should tell a story. This movie tells you half a story and the fun part is coming up with the reasons why things are happening in the movie. Why are we sending astronauts to Saturn in the late 1970's? Just how long did the trip take and why wasn't Steve long dead by the time it got back? Was Dr. Ted Nelson part of a two man conspiracy to create a killer mutant? Why does a General not have his own office? Can you still have a sense of hearing and balance even though your inner ear is all melted together? This movie is pure unintentional comedy. Me and a buddy watched this little opus and were rolling on the floor. This movie actually makes the bad physics and plot dynamics of Armageddon seem plausible. My hat is off to Burr DeBenning as Dr. Ted Nelson, the man with no emotions. Burr's performance is pricelessly bad. It is reminicent of a something you would see at a junior high school play.

I can add little to existing reviews of this film save to say that, after being generally disgusted with the movie -- a cheap exploitation film with many flaws -- I was nonetheless spellbound by the final images of the movie, where the too-too sullied melting man just slumps against a wall and... melts. Nevermind the makeup; something about the scene (which probably seems a lot longer in my memory than it actually was) is extremely effective and disturbing. It's one of the most effective images of human mortality that I can recall seeing in cinema. It's been a long time, mind you; I recall the sun coming up, swelling music, a sense that something epic was happening as the guy liquefied, and I may be adding a bit of that in myself. Still, it's worth the watch for horror fans.