s space shuttle Scorpio 5 passes through the rings of Saturn, the three astronauts aboard get a rare, magnificent glimpse of the sun. But they also get a considerable dose of radiation when a solar flare lashes out at the ship, killing all but Steve West (Alex Rebar), who manages to return to Earth alive. Unfortunately, he’s horribly disfigured; the flesh on his body is discolored, disfigured, and mutilated. And when he awakes to discover his condition, he goes mad, striking out at his nurse and fleeing the California psychoradiological research center in which he’s housed.

After Dr. Theodore “Ted” Nelson (Burr DeBenning) looks over the test results, he alerts General Michael Perry (Myron Healey), who demands that the medic do everything within his power to recapture the escaped patient. But this melting man, whose skin continues to slough off and whose mind is decomposing, gains a desire for human blood, as if an insatiable zombie. “He seems to be getting stronger all the time.”

For 1977, this is an impressively gory film. Within the first few minutes, Steve tears off the head of a victim, which is cast into a stream before tumbling down a tiny waterfall and bursting into a bloody pulp. Plus, West’s styling is amusing, even if it’s mostly just thick slime that smears onto the objects he touches. In his first sudden appearance in full view, however, his eyeball falls out of his head, which is spectacularly repulsive in an admirable way – thanks to the special effects and makeup by Rick Baker (who would go on to do the practical effects for “An American Werewolf in London,” “Matinee,” “Batman Forever,” and “Men in Black”).

As it turns out, however, the visuals are essentially the only selling point for “The Incredible Melting Man.” The acting is notably mediocre and unconvincing, the music by Arlon Ober is simple and generic, and the story moves along so hurriedly that it doesn’t have time to don a complexity that could push it beyond an obvious showcase for yucks. Even so, flashback sequences and repetitive shots tend to drag things out, as if the material is so limited that it can’t even fill the brief runtime. Numerous sequences dwell on people sitting around and waiting for others to return. It’s comically exploitative, too, inserting a gratuitous nude scene just to take full advantage of the MPAA rating allowances.

As Steve devolves into a slimier and slimier shell of his former self, random characters are introduced to provide additional dismemberment-fueled deaths. These roles are so pathetically designed that they’re not only unsympathetic, but also irritating (even Ted’s wife, Judy [Ann Sweeny] is annoying and pointless, serving as just another victim to terrorize); it’s something of a relief when they meet grisly demises at the hands of the radioactive cannibal (director Jonathan Demme is one of those attacked, in a rare part in front of the camera). As with many early slasher flicks, it’s not a great sign when audiences are more likely to root for the antagonist than the protagonists. Strangely, the premise is so elementary and uninspired that even the few glimpses of creative bloodshed and effects can’t stop the picture from being a bore; the potential is there (particularly with the bleak and oozy finale), but the script didn’t know what to do with the strikingly gory visuals available to it.

– Mike Massie