The Incredible Melting Man (1977) - 1985 RCA/Columbia International Video Japan VHS

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It's funny how our tastes evolve and how sometimes mood and setting is vital to how one "takes in" trash such as this. For the longest time, even after repeated sit downs with Melting Man, I fucking flat out hated it. Oddly in hindsight I can't explained why; however, I've come to see its charms after becoming acclimated with similar crap. It's a little cult film that self-proclaimed cult flicks of today painfully style themselves after to achieve a new-found lattice of contemporary grindhouse (i.e. - sell more DVDs with crazy ad campaigns!).

For such a gratuitous premise of an gamma-struck astronaut returning to Earth only to actively body melt and murderously freak out, there's an innocuous sensibility to the film. This might be from the bittersweet perspective of the melting man who can't control his actions and increasingly becomes alienated (frankensteined?) from society. The Saturn sunburned freak roams the countryside after rampaging out of a hospital to attack bystanders, reflect on shattered memories, and look in a such a bad way that the toxic waste punk from Robocop would give pause.

Still, despite the wondrously multi-colored gore from Rick Baker, The Incredible Melting Man smacks of something you could actually watch with little ones of a certain age. There's little here that's played for genuine shock value, which sounds crazy considering there's a guy literally liquifying before our eyes. To put the movie into kid terms, it's akin to a playing with Gak slime or Trash Bag Bunch toys. It's stupid icky fun that could have only been made in an era long time past. This VHS's extremely amount of dirt, scratches, splice marks, and reel change blobs only help the experience. Love the cover art as well!