Back The Incredible Melting Man Catalan The Incredible Melting Man Welsh Der Planet Saturn läßt schön grüßen German Le Monstre qui vient de l'espace French L'uomo di cera Italian 溶解人間 Japanese The Incredible Melting Man Dutch The Incredible Melting Man Portuguese The Incredible Melting Man SIMPLE
| The Incredible Melting Man | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William Sachs |
| Written by | William Sachs |
| Produced by | Samuel W. Gelfman |
| Starring | Alex Rebar Burr DeBenning Myron Healey |
| Cinematography | Willy Curtis |
| Edited by | James Beshears |
| Music by | Arlon Ober |
Production company | Quartet Productions |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Incredible Melting Man is a 1977 American science fiction body horror film directed and written by William Sachs. The plot concerns 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. During post-production, the producers reshot scenes without Sachs' participation. The film starred Alex Rebar as the main character, alongside Burr DeBenning as a scientist trying to help him and Myron Healey as a United States Air Force general seeking to capture him. While writing and shooting, Sachs was influenced by Night of the Living Dead.[1] With the changes by the producers, the final film has been described as a remake of First Man into Space (1959),[2][3][4] which in turn was directly influenced by The Quatermass Xperiment,[5] even though Sachs had never seen either of those films.[6]
The screenplay which Sachs dramatized was originally intended as a parody of horror films, but comedic scenes were edited out during production and new horror scenes added. Sachs claimed 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, while Columbia Pictures handled international rights under the Columbia-EMI-Warner Distributors label. 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 that the main character's body would appear to melt gradually, but the stages were ultimately cut from the final film.
The film was commercially successful, but it received largely negative reviews, although even critical reviews complimented Baker's makeup effects. According to writer/director Sachs, many scenes that were re-shot and changed by the producers proved problematic due to their inferior acting.[1] The Incredible Melting Man was featured in the comedy It Came from Hollywood (1982) and inspired the makeup effects for a scene in the science fiction-action film RoboCop (1987). It was also featured in a season 7 episode of the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 and episode 108 of RedLetterMedia's 'Best of The Worst' strand.[7]
- ^ a b "Torso Revue de Cinema: Interview with William Sachs (French)". Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
- ^ Everman 1995, p. 103
- ^ DiFino, Nando (October 21, 1993). "Scary treats: Horror buff Nando DiFino shares his favorite cult films". The Post-Standard. p. H1.
- ^ Berg, Jon (1977). "Rick Baker". Cinefantastique. 6—7: 35.
- ^ Hamilton, 2013, pp. 39--41.
- ^ William Sachs: Audio Commentary and interview on Blu-Ray-edition of "The Incredible Melting Man" by Arrow Video.
- ^ "youtube.com: "Best Of The Worst"". Retrieved February 27, 2022..