mutations and melting man

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Horrorphile - January 2008

The Mutations AND The Incredible Melting Man

January 30th 2008 01:54

In conjunction with the exclusive limited run two week season of Grindhouse (2007) the Chauvel cinema here in Sydney has screened four grindhouse “classics” as part of their annual cinematheque programme. I managed to catch two of them; The Mutations (1974) and The Incredible Melting Man (1977).

I had read about The Mutations (known in the States as The Freakmaker) many years ago in a science fiction cinema book I owned as a lad. An English film starring Donald Pleasence as a mad scientist and Tom Baker (pre-Doctor Who) as a deformed traveling circus operator. Directed by legendary cinematographer turned director Jack Cardiff it’s an unintentionally hilarious descent into extreme silliness; a curious re-fashioned re-boot of Freaks (1932) meets Frankenstein (1931).

The Mutations Donald Pleasence and Tom Baker

Prof. Nolter (Donald Pleasence) with his circus freak accomplice Lynch (Tom Baker)

The film is neither scary nor repulsive as a horror movie, yet it creates an oddly unsettling, strangely claustrophobic atmosphere. Perhaps this had something to do with the scratchy, washed-out 16mm print I was watching, but it added a certain “edge” to the movie, a macabre visual tone. The opening time-lapse photography sequences of plants growing and flowers blooming set to a brooding electronic soundtrack was quite something.

The mad scientist applies his magic while the freak looks on

When I say the movie wasn’t repulsive, I was lying, actually it featured some real life “freaks”, just as Tod Browning’s cult film had. One man, Popeye, could actually pop his eyes out of his head like some thyroid extremist; a truly ghastly sight (pun unintended). There was also alligator woman, pretzel boy, the bearded lady, the human pincushion, monkey woman, frog boy, and the de rigueur dwarves and midgets.

The Human Pincushion (O.T.) and midget Kathy (Kathy Kitchen)

Popeye (Willie Ingram) does his thing

Professor Nolter (Pleasence) works at the university teaching biology to a group of students who look far too old to be still in school. Behind the scenes he’s experimenting with trying to create genetically-engineered hybrids of humans and plants, taking the self-sufficiency of plants and combining them with the abstract thought of humankind. With the help of circus freak Lynch (Baker) who abducts students and brings them to the doctor’s lab (filled with various “intelligent plants”), under the pretense that the good doctor will cure him of his grotesque deformity, where Nolter is determined to break on through to the other side.

Lynch steals Hedi (Julie Ege) for the professor

Of course it all goes horribly awry, with some very silly special effects make-up, and some absurd dialogue and scenarios. It’s one of those horror curios that demands to be seen, if only to see Tom Baker in an elephant man facial prosthetic frothing “I am not a freak!”, and to see Donald Pleasence utter an unconvincing scream as he’s devoured by a carnivorous man-plant. Oh, and not forgetting the spectacle of Popeye too!

Astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar) is not too happy with his reflection

The Incredible Melting Man I saw when I was barely out of puberty late one night on television (In New Zealand we had The Sunday Horrors, great for those B-grade cult rarities). From memory it was tacky (pun intended), but reasonably good fun. But oh no, on watching the movie again, it quickly dawned on me this movie was actually much, much worse than I ever remembered. In fact, so utterly dreadful is this Z-grade effort that I was caught like a deer in the headlights, unable to take my eyes off the screen. My fiancé and her friend, whom I had managed to talk into joining me, were suitably unimpressed, despite my pre-screening warnings that the movie was going to be “bad”. Bad was an understatement, to say the least!

The Incredible Melting Man Alex Rebar and Samuel Gelfman

The melting man grabs a bite to eat

Written and directed by the inept William Sachs the movie is a textbook example of how not to direct a horror movie. To be more precise, this is how not to direct a movie. Period. Every basic rule of cinematic language and technique was broken, but not in an experimental, progressive way. Sachs simply had no idea how to direct a movie; he even crosses the line, twice! Extraordinary that it ever got released. That’s the real horror.

A young Rick Baker supplied the movie’s special effects; unfortunately they’re not very special at all. Apart from the titular character’s head collapse at movie’s end, the melting effects are wholly unremarkable, basically a latex full-head mask, with hand and feet gloves, that have been wetted and applied with a little flesh slime before each take. Oh, and there’s a floating decapitated head as well.

The melting man, sans arm, is still hungry

The synopsis is pretty dire too: Astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar) returns from a mission to Saturn (despite the glaring factual error that it’s impossible to actually land on the gaseous giant), but is afflicted with some kind of cosmic radiation which causes his flesh to slowly melt. His fellow astronaut comrades have all perished. He escapes the clutches of the hospital his mind in meltdown also, resulting in homicidal, cannibalistic behaviour (apparently he needs the human cells to stay alive). A government official (Myron Healey) and West’s doctor (Burr “I’m Dr. Ted Nelson!” DeBenning) make a pathetic attempt to capture him. Eventually he is cornered, but brute strength enables him to escape once again, only to succumb to the final gloopy ravages of his Saturn disease. A cleaner arrives on the scene and shovels up the remains as a radio voiceover announces a new mission to Saturn is about to commence.

I’m not being harsh when I say The Incredible Melting Man is not even fun for popcorn jeers, it takes itself way too seriously to be appreciated on a so bad-it’s-good level. It’s trash so low you might suffer from the bends watching it. In fact it really is only good for one thing; reminding the viewer of another B-horror, infinitely better: The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).

Here's an original short, but effective, TV spot for The Mutations:

Here's melting man Steve West losing an eye and scaring a poor wee girl:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

January 30th 2008 07:49

Film & TV on DVD

i will have to check out Mutations one day...I saw Incredible melting Man at about the same age and always thought it could sit alongside the Troma film Toxic Avenger...it seems I was mistaken!

Comment by Bryn

January 30th 2008 22:14

Horrorphile

JD, Toxic Avenger had its tongue in cheek, Melting Man just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Trust me, it's really bad.

Comment by Damo

January 31st 2008 03:52

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

I confess I have actually seen both of these movies on late night television.
Well I only saw the last half of the Melting man. Nightmoves was on after it so I sat through what I could only describe a parade of the dumbest people on Earth being tricked by the dumbest man in the universe. It is amazing watch bloke watch when they are between girlfriends.

The Mutations was a bit better. I am a fan of Creepy Donny to some degree. The movies starts off well enough with some fascinating time lapse and to be honest The Incredible Hulk is only marginally better.
Then somewhere between Donny experimenting on student and carnivorous plant man it lost the plot. DEfinitely not scary but does get point for being sympathetic to the Freaks. Unfortunately it has to be very late night before I am tempted to see it again.

Comment by Bryn

January 31st 2008 05:26

Horrorphile

Hear, hear, Damo.

[ Previous - What are some EXPLOITATION-HORROR movie essentials? ]

[ Next - Horror QUIZ #18: Mastermind Series - III ]

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