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Author
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Topic: The Incredible Melting Man
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James N. Savage 3
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1375
From: Washington, DC
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted October 09, 2008 07:33 PM
Well, you axed for it, so here it is. The review for...
"The Incredible Melting Man"
Ken Films, 400 foot digest, 17 minutes.
After the American International Pictures logo, the credits appear over an outer-space backdrop. We then see several astronauts, fiddling with controls. As the main character, astronaut Steve West looks out of the window, he utters the famous line- "You've never...seen anything.........until you've seen the sun.........through the rings of Saturn". (Yes, he really says it, just like that! ![[Smile]](smile.gif) ). We then see some stock footage of solar flares, followed by a bright flash of light. Steve goes unconcious, followed by a fade out.
In a hospital room at NASA, a doctor is looking in on Steve, the only survivor from the space ship. Steve is unconscious and wrapped from head to toe. Note: I love the background score on this scene.
Moments later, a somewhat large nurse walks in, as Steve wakes up and starts tearing his bandages off in horror. The nurse screams and runs out of the room. Then, the VERY FAMOUS scene where the nurse runs down a very long corridor, in slow motion, screaming, until she dramatically crashes through a tiny glass door, still in slow motion. NOTE: This scene is famous if you were old enough to watch TV in the mid/late 70's, because this scene was shown over and over on commercials.
Next scene, the nurse is dead on an autopsy table, we see that part of her head is missing. NASA doctors discuss that Steve is missing, and dangerous, and melting, and needs to eat human cells to live. Dr. Ted Nelson (Steve's old friend) is given the job to find him. Dr. Nelson heads out with a geiger counter, and finds a melty body part, and says- "OMG, it's his ear".
Next scene, a man is fishing in a small wooded area, when he is grabbed from behind by a slimey hand, as we get our first quick look at the melting man.
Next scene, a photographer is attempting to take topless photos of a reluctant model (played by the late Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, actress in many films back then, mostly "B" movies). Her foot bumps the hand of a corpse (the fisherman), who now has no head.
The local sheriff begins questioning Dr. Nelson, suspecting that he knows more than he's telling. (For some reason, NASA wants the whole thing to be kept a secret).
We then see the fisherman's head float down a small stream, and cascade over a little water fall. NOTE: the editor of this digest chose to cut out the part where the head hits a large rock at the bottom and cracks open. I guess he felt it was just too gory for the average home movie viewer.
At night, a couple arrives home to find the front door open, and slime on the door knob. The man is killed off-screen and the woman locks herself in the kitchen. As she stands by a window, watching the kitchen door, MM's arm smashes through the window and grabs her from behind (good shock scene). She grabs a meat clever and chops it off. MM runs off.
Dr. Nelson has now leveled with the sheriff and they chase MM into a power plant, climbing many stairs. As the sheriff confronts MM at the top of the tower, he fires a shotgun, hitting MM several times, taking no effect except to anger him, at which time MM knocks the sheriff over the railing, and into power lines, turning him into a human fireworks display (NOTE: this was always the favorite scene of everyone who watched this digest).
MM then knocks his old friend Dr. Nelson over the rail, but then seems to remember him (as sweet violin music is played, no kidding). MM pulls his old friend to safety, and seems to be coming around (even though he's still melting).
But then, the irony of it all. Two over-zelous, armed security guards order the two to "freeze". As Dr. Nelson frantically tries to explain whats happening, they shoot the Doctor in the head, killing him instanly ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) . They open fire on MM, who attacks them (they are heard screaming as the picture blurs and fades to black).
The MM then sits next to a shed and begins melting at a rapid pace, until, nothing but a pile of glob. Fade out.
After a short pause, the picture fades in. Its morning, and we see the still bodies of Dr. Nelson, the sheriff, and the two guards. When then see whats left of the MM. Then, in an effective scene of comic relief, a NASA custodian (who slightly resembles the actor Red Foxx), reluctantly cleans up the gooey mess, shaking is head in discussed, apparently unaware that its what's left of the missing astronaut.
The End.
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I saw this at the movies about a year before I bought this digest. I really didn't like the full feature very much, as it was painfully slow, heavily padded with tons of boring flash-backs, and poorly lit scenes of MM walking around pasture-like areas in slow motion.
However.....
this digest is excellent, and actually turned this into a decent horror movie. The editing is near perfect, moving swiftly, capturing most of the really good scenes, and even including some of the famously campy bits that have made this somewhat of a cult-classic.
I strongly recommend this digest to the horror or 'camp' fan. Don't bother with the DVD feature, unless its the MS3K version, which is pretty funny.
Comes in a nice Ken clam-shell case (unfortunatley, no original artwork, just close-up picture of the MM).
Last Note: excellent FX by Rick Baker, which is basically what made the movie. No name actors, but you will recognize most of them from various T.V. shows and movies from the 70's.
James.
[ October 10, 2008, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: James N. Savage 3 ]
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted October 10, 2008 09:13 AM
well, you have to admit, there weren't many melting men in films before that, and certainly none so convincing as this one.
James, was there a 200ft release of this as well AND, if so, did it have any additional footage?
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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