Movie #27: The Incredible Melting Man

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"The Incredible Melting Man" is a sci-fi/horror film from 1977 (the same year Star Wars came out.) It is written & directed by William Sachs (the director of Galaxina) and stars Alex Rebar as an astronaut who passes through the rings of Saturn in his spaceship and is exposed to some sort of radiation. When he returns to Earth, his flesh begins melting right off his body like cheese sliding off a pizza. He is an oozing, dripping mess. He escapes from the science lab and begins killing and eating people, like a zombie. A scientist friend of his tries to find him before the police do so that he can help him. But the countdown is on in which the melting man will eventually melt away to a stain on the ground.

                     click on the box above to see the trailer


Famous Hollywood make effects guru, Rick Baker, is behind the melting man effects on this film. You can tell that it is some of his earliest work because it is so cheesy, as is the acting. It's basically a slasher flick and I would have completely overlooked it if it weren't for the fact that Baker had had worked on it. I guess it's worth checking out just to see some of his earliest work to compare to what he does today on films like Hellboy and Men in Black 3.

Rick Baker on the set doing what he does best

- Patrick Shawn BennettBroadcasting from the land of melting goo.