5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
An astronaut is transformed into a murderous gelatinous mass after returning from an ill-fated space voyage.
Starring: Alex Rebar, Burr DeBenning, Myron Healey, Michael Alldredge, Ann SweenyHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Fans of Scooby Doo are well aware of the series’ famous trope “. . .and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids!” The Incredible Melting Man’s writer and director William Sachs might be forgiven for slightly adapting that famous phrase and lamenting, “I would have made the film I wanted to, too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling producers!” Sachs (misidentified as “Sacks” in one of the bonus featurettes included on this new Blu-ray) spends quite a bit of his time on the commentary track “bitching and moaning” (in his own words) about how the film he wanted to make didn’t exactly make it to the screen. And listening to him describe his vision for The Incredible Melting Man, it’s hard to argue that his concept was manifestly better than the one that ended up in the final cut. As I discussed in the Project X Blu-ray review, part of what hobbled that film is that screenwriter Edmund Morris and producer-director William Castle revealed the “secret” of what’s really going on from the get go, rather than making the viewer an unknowing co-conspirator in a plot to fool a spy that he’s actually a writer living in the distant past in order to help him retrieve some data buried deep within his subconscious. The source novel for Project X, L.P. Davies’ wonderful The Artificial Man, didn’t spill the beans until well into the book, at which point it was a huge surprise. Up until that point, readers were aware that something nefarious was going on with this 1960s era writer toiling away in an isolated village in England. The fact that he was a super-spy from the far distant future was one of the novel’s crowning twists, but in the film version, it’s depicted from virtually the first scene. Where’s the mystery? Where’s the intrigue? And in fact, where’s the interest? Much the same “lay it all on the line” ethos permeates the “producer’s cut” version of The Incredible Melting Man, giving the film a rote, predictable quality that Sachs’ original concept certainly would have avoided. What’s left is a pretty campy exercise in a ooey gooey monster stumbling through the woods and occasionally killing people.
The Incredible Melting Man is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory imprint Scream Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is another very solid offering from Scream Factory, one which offers nicely saturated color and some rather good fine detail, at least in the more brightly lit daytime segments. The film suffers from some low light level issues, including negligible shadow detail, quite a bit of the time. The elements here are in very good shape, with very little damage to report. As Sachs mentions in his commentary, the producers injected a bunch of stock footage, which is noticeably more grainy and quite a bit softer than the bulk of this high definition presentation.
The Incredible Melting Man's original mono track is delivered via a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. While there's nothing major to complain about here, there's also not much to write home about. Dialogue, while kind of flat, is clean and easy to hear and the foley effects also come through fairly vividly. The sound design here is not overly ambitious, so this is by no means a sonic knockout, but fidelity is fine, if not overwhelming, and there's no real damage to report.
The Incredible Melting Man has a few decent scares and even a few decent laughs, but the problem is the laughs are now mostly in all the wrong places due to those darned meddling producers and their ridiculous efforts to subvert Sachs' original premise. That boneheadedness is only compounded by the stupid decision to spill the beans right off the bat, letting the viewer in on what's happening to West. Sachs' version would have kept that secret until near the end of the movie, adding some much needed suspense to the proceedings. As it stands, The Incredible Melting Man is just kind of a goofy outing with a slimy monster lurching out of the shadows and occasionally killing people. Rick Baker's make- up work is outstanding, however, and is certainly one of the best things about the film. This Blu-ray features excellent video and very good audio, and comes with some appealing supplements.
1982
1953
1964
1981
Collector's Edition
1988
Alien Contamination | Limited Edition Slipcase to 1000
1980
Kino Cult #13
1976
1972
1987
Director's Cut
1986
Warner Archive Collection
1951
2K Restoration
1958
1986
Special Edition | The Creeping Unknown
1955
2019
2015
1959
10th Anniversary Special Edition
2008
2013
1986