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Writer-director William Sachs, the genius who brought the world Galaxina, reveals another side of his vision with The Incredible Melting Man, one of the most disgusting stories ever brought to the screen. Like all the great universal myths that touch our hearts, the story itself is a simple one: astronaut Steve is exploring Saturn's rings when he gets a fatal dose of radiation. He promptly starts melting and must eat human flesh to survive. Never you mind why, he just does. It's up to Dr. Ted Nelson to track Steve down, which he must do single-handedly because it's a Government Secret. Ted does a little bit of searching and a whole lot of eating and talking, and all the while Steve gets madder and messier.There is much to recommend The Incredible Melting Man, not the leastbeing a range and caliber of acting normally only found in the porn industry.You can also enjoy an enormous 1970s wall hanging and plenty o' fuzz-tone guitarin the soundtrack. Sharp-eyed fans of women-in-prison movies will be pleased tosee an appearance by Caged Heat star Rainbeaux Smith in a disturbingreminder of just how far gender relations had yet to go in the early '70s, anddirector Jonathan Demme also makes an all-too-brief appearance as Matt. It's apity he doesn't stick around a few minutes to lend a restraining hand when, inthe film's most terrifying sequence, Matt's girlfriend Nell stops to take anActing Moment. The film's realstar, of course, is the makeup, by Oscar-winner Rick Baker. Baker created four different phases of melting and other assorted oozing and sloughing effects--a true triumph of vileness. With its howlingly bad ad-libbing, astonishing '70s décor, and unusually mushy body parts, The Incredible Melting Man is guaranteed to liven up any fondue party. --AliDavis ... Read more

Reviews (15)

dumb, brutal, and kind of interesting
I can add little to existing reviews of this film save to say that, after being generally disgusted with the movie -- a cheap exploitation film with many flaws -- I was nonetheless spellbound by the final images of the movie, where the too-too sullied melting man just slumps against a wall and... melts. Nevermind the makeup; something about the scene (which probably seems a lot longer in my memory than it actually was) is extremely effective and disturbing. It's one of the most effective images of human mortality that I can recall seeing in cinema. It's been a long time, mind you; I recall the sun coming up, swelling music, a sense that something epic was happening as the guy liquefied, and I may be adding a bit of that in myself. Still, it's worth the watch for horror fans.

The makeup is surprisingly effective!!!
When astronaut Steven West returns to earth from a visit to Saturn, he brings back with him a horrible disease that very literally begins melting away his flesh! This hideous affliction is further worsened when the poor man realizes he must turn cannibal in order to survive.

William Sachs directs from a screenplay that, believe it or not, updates the old 1950's sci-fi film "First Man Into Space." I personally got a rise out of Rick Baker's gory special effects. To say they're merely convincing would be an understatement. The stuff on display in this flick is positively unsettling! For a movie released in the late 70's, this really delivers the gruesome goods. While the story's premise may seem laughable, at times even more farfetched, the tried and true horror buff should find something to savor here. The ending is a particular sight to behold. One, I'm sure, you'll never forget.

Bah!
I don't think any of the previous reviews are of any help in predicting this film, and I assume most of them where written by people that saw it a long time ago and only vaguely remember the highlights of it. I'm going to try write something useful.
This movie just isn't that good, mainly for two reasons: it is way to slow, and it doesn't add anything to what you already know about it: it has absolutely no surprises. Sure enough, there are some plotholes, BIG ONES, but that is to be expected in a movie like this and I'm not going to make a big deal out of it.
In conclusion, this film seems to be trapped between being a classic b-movie, and what you might call a psychological thriller (though I doubt if any psychiatrist would aprove of that consept), but succeeds as neither. The highlight of the movie is probably the scene in the end when the custodian comes out in the morning and starts gatehering up the remains of the melting man.
There is no interesting stuff on the DVD version either.

A very low budget lousy movie!
Don't waste your time or money on this cheapie. Both the story and acting are bad beyond belief and Leonard Maltin is absolutely right when he says that the ONLY good thing in the movie is the special effects for the melting astronaut.

My God!!! It's An EAR !!!!!
The ending scene in this superlative film set an unusually high standard for special effects in cinema. We see the poor man sitting there, the live actor, skin all runny and saggy -- then, seamlessly, he dissolves right before our eyes. I have lain awake nights contemplating how they achieved that effect, for there was no cutaway, no editing, no shift of view: The man simply melted. One explanation is that the real actor truly did melt because we certainly never saw him again after this flick. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Funny movie
This is a cult classic, stupid movie. Avery Schreiber commands the Space Police cruiser Infinity and her crew of idiots. Infinity and her crew are near the end of their seven year mission when the police chief sends them on a jouney to rescue the Blue Star from a planet of crooks. The journey will last fifty-four years total. Along the way, Sgt. Thor falls in love with the ships robot, Galaxina (Stratton). The plot is classic B-movie, the one-liners are great and Stratton looks good in her tight satin jump suit. Who could ask for more?

shockingly awful
There's nothing more awful than a comedy that isn't funny. Apparently the folks who made Galaxina were going for a kind of space-movie parody with sex, but there is exactly ONE funny bit in the movie. The bikers on the distant planet who worship Harley Davidson by bowing down to a motorcycle and going "Vroom! Vroom!" That's it. It lasts about 10 seconds, and pfft, end of funny. Quite honestly, has there EVER been a funny space-movie parody besides "Galaxy Quest?" Ever? Nope. And this one isn't either. The jokes are so bad, and so labored, and take so long to arrive, and are delivered so badly, that it's agonizing.

The sex part? THERE ISN'T ANY. Not unless you count the scene in the space bordello, which is neither sexy nor funny. So the movie fails on both counts; it's not funny, and it's not sexy. It just sort of flops around from disconnected scene to disconnected scene. All the guys in the movie are slimy cheeseballs with open shirts and ASCOTS. And then there's Avery Schreiber. Avery Schreiber. Who told this guy he was funny? Can we sue them? Was he funny? Ever?

And what was this movie shot on? I mean, the whole film is blurry. It's out of focus all the way through. I've seen MP3's with better image resolution than this movie.

The only thing that might make this dreadful failure worth watching at all, for even five seconds, is Dorothy Stratton. Poor Dorothy. She can't act, of course, but she is beautiful, even in the sublimely stupid outfits they put her in here. And she goes through this thing like a trooper, doing exactly what she's supposed to, which is act like a robot.

Trust me, this movie's not even good no matter how many of whatever substances you imbibe. It's too awful to even make fun of. It's just plain awful. Unless you are absolutely obsessed with Dorothy Stratton or you have some weird need to collect every bad science fiction movie ever made, avoid this like the plague.

Bad Bad Movie, Not Good Bad
I love Dorothy Stratten. She was the first Playmate I ever saw and she was the most incredible vision I'd ever seen. I love Science Fiction. I grew up with it and I've read and seen just about everything ever released. I love good bad movies. The first time I saw Deathrace 2000, I couldn't stop laughing. Toxie is a personal hero of mine. I live for Friday night to watch good bad movies and munch on popcorn.

I only mention all of the above to preface my review because they're important. I'm exactly the intended target audience for this movie.

It's bad. Really bad. Bad bad. Using terms like "witty" and "humorous" are completely out of place with this movie. I had a friend in grade school who made witty movies. This isn't even close.

My first impression was incredibly poor. The A G O N I Z I N G L Y slow pan along the length of the spaceship while music that sounded like it was lifted from a Bugs Bunny cartoon in a more serious moment seemed like it would never end. And then it went downhill.

There is no sense of sequence to the story. It's a hodge-podge of scenes that seem to have been written by someone determined to see how bad a movie could be and still be funded and released by a theater. Well, now we know.

The acting is beyond cardboard, the supposed "parody" simply a matter of trying to reference other movies everyone would know without realizing you need to do something clever with it to be funny, and throughout all of this is the maddening Bugs Bunny classical soundtrack.

Don't waste your time... even if you think it would be worth trying to see how bad it is. That's why I saw it. I've seen thousands of movies, and this is my first movie review. That should tell you how bad this movie must be.

OOOO WAH!!
Galaxina is one of those movies that you either like, or hate. No in between. It has a lot of adult humor, and adult language, and is a bit off kilter!
As to this DVD version: I like it a lot better than the tape. Much crisper, clearer picture and audio. I wish there were more added features, but with the star's demise, I guess a lot was lost.

A bit cheesy
Well we have here a sorts of galactic adventures started in the final and first 80's.

Galaxina(Dorothy R Stratten) is a female robot which leds in the Eternity Police starship.

The crew including a cowboy a shaggy beared captain,a black vampire(or cousin of Mr Spock the vulcanian) and a japanese old man.

They get a mission got to a remote planet to get the Blue Star(ahhh!) from a alien robot which lives in a west town style full of aliens.

Of course they sent Galaxina to get the treasure.

After she is captured by a band of Harley Davidson believers they rescued her and returns to the ship.

The dialogue is a bit cheesy the humour and jokes are very obvius and the intents of Galaxina of talk are evident.

The presence of playmate DRS at least worth the money.

The sound is clear and audible,but the image clarity is poor,it seems that the transfer was done from an old vhs tape.

They should make a better image quality. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Funny movie
This is a cult classic, stupid movie. Avery Schreiber commands the Space Police cruiser Infinity and her crew of idiots. Infinity and her crew are near the end of their seven year mission when the police chief sends them on a jouney to rescue the Blue Star from a planet of crooks. The journey will last fifty-four years total. Along the way, Sgt. Thor falls in love with the ships robot, Galaxina (Stratton). The plot is classic B-movie, the one-liners are great and Stratton looks good in her tight satin jump suit. Who could ask for more?

shockingly awful
There's nothing more awful than a comedy that isn't funny. Apparently the folks who made Galaxina were going for a kind of space-movie parody with sex, but there is exactly ONE funny bit in the movie. The bikers on the distant planet who worship Harley Davidson by bowing down to a motorcycle and going "Vroom! Vroom!" That's it. It lasts about 10 seconds, and pfft, end of funny. Quite honestly, has there EVER been a funny space-movie parody besides "Galaxy Quest?" Ever? Nope. And this one isn't either. The jokes are so bad, and so labored, and take so long to arrive, and are delivered so badly, that it's agonizing.

The sex part? THERE ISN'T ANY. Not unless you count the scene in the space bordello, which is neither sexy nor funny. So the movie fails on both counts; it's not funny, and it's not sexy. It just sort of flops around from disconnected scene to disconnected scene. All the guys in the movie are slimy cheeseballs with open shirts and ASCOTS. And then there's Avery Schreiber. Avery Schreiber. Who told this guy he was funny? Can we sue them? Was he funny? Ever?

And what was this movie shot on? I mean, the whole film is blurry. It's out of focus all the way through. I've seen MP3's with better image resolution than this movie.

The only thing that might make this dreadful failure worth watching at all, for even five seconds, is Dorothy Stratton. Poor Dorothy. She can't act, of course, but she is beautiful, even in the sublimely stupid outfits they put her in here. And she goes through this thing like a trooper, doing exactly what she's supposed to, which is act like a robot.

Trust me, this movie's not even good no matter how many of whatever substances you imbibe. It's too awful to even make fun of. It's just plain awful. Unless you are absolutely obsessed with Dorothy Stratton or you have some weird need to collect every bad science fiction movie ever made, avoid this like the plague.

Bad Bad Movie, Not Good Bad
I love Dorothy Stratten. She was the first Playmate I ever saw and she was the most incredible vision I'd ever seen. I love Science Fiction. I grew up with it and I've read and seen just about everything ever released. I love good bad movies. The first time I saw Deathrace 2000, I couldn't stop laughing. Toxie is a personal hero of mine. I live for Friday night to watch good bad movies and munch on popcorn.

I only mention all of the above to preface my review because they're important. I'm exactly the intended target audience for this movie.

It's bad. Really bad. Bad bad. Using terms like "witty" and "humorous" are completely out of place with this movie. I had a friend in grade school who made witty movies. This isn't even close.

My first impression was incredibly poor. The A G O N I Z I N G L Y slow pan along the length of the spaceship while music that sounded like it was lifted from a Bugs Bunny cartoon in a more serious moment seemed like it would never end. And then it went downhill.

There is no sense of sequence to the story. It's a hodge-podge of scenes that seem to have been written by someone determined to see how bad a movie could be and still be funded and released by a theater. Well, now we know.

The acting is beyond cardboard, the supposed "parody" simply a matter of trying to reference other movies everyone would know without realizing you need to do something clever with it to be funny, and throughout all of this is the maddening Bugs Bunny classical soundtrack.

Don't waste your time... even if you think it would be worth trying to see how bad it is. That's why I saw it. I've seen thousands of movies, and this is my first movie review. That should tell you how bad this movie must be.

OOOO WAH!!
Galaxina is one of those movies that you either like, or hate. No in between. It has a lot of adult humor, and adult language, and is a bit off kilter!
As to this DVD version: I like it a lot better than the tape. Much crisper, clearer picture and audio. I wish there were more added features, but with the star's demise, I guess a lot was lost.

A bit cheesy
Well we have here a sorts of galactic adventures started in the final and first 80's.

Galaxina(Dorothy R Stratten) is a female robot which leds in the Eternity Police starship.

The crew including a cowboy a shaggy beared captain,a black vampire(or cousin of Mr Spock the vulcanian) and a japanese old man.

They get a mission got to a remote planet to get the Blue Star(ahhh!) from a alien robot which lives in a west town style full of aliens.

Of course they sent Galaxina to get the treasure.

After she is captured by a band of Harley Davidson believers they rescued her and returns to the ship.

The dialogue is a bit cheesy the humour and jokes are very obvius and the intents of Galaxina of talk are evident.

The presence of playmate DRS at least worth the money.

The sound is clear and audible,but the image clarity is poor,it seems that the transfer was done from an old vhs tape.

They should make a better image quality. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

dumb, brutal, and kind of interesting
I can add little to existing reviews of this film save to say that, after being generally disgusted with the movie -- a cheap exploitation film with many flaws -- I was nonetheless spellbound by the final images of the movie, where the too-too sullied melting man just slumps against a wall and... melts. Nevermind the makeup; something about the scene (which probably seems a lot longer in my memory than it actually was) is extremely effective and disturbing. It's one of the most effective images of human mortality that I can recall seeing in cinema. It's been a long time, mind you; I recall the sun coming up, swelling music, a sense that something epic was happening as the guy liquefied, and I may be adding a bit of that in myself. Still, it's worth the watch for horror fans.

The makeup is surprisingly effective!!!
When astronaut Steven West returns to earth from a visit to Saturn, he brings back with him a horrible disease that very literally begins melting away his flesh! This hideous affliction is further worsened when the poor man realizes he must turn cannibal in order to survive.

William Sachs directs from a screenplay that, believe it or not, updates the old 1950's sci-fi film "First Man Into Space." I personally got a rise out of Rick Baker's gory special effects. To say they're merely convincing would be an understatement. The stuff on display in this flick is positively unsettling! For a movie released in the late 70's, this really delivers the gruesome goods. While the story's premise may seem laughable, at times even more farfetched, the tried and true horror buff should find something to savor here. The ending is a particular sight to behold. One, I'm sure, you'll never forget.

Bah!
I don't think any of the previous reviews are of any help in predicting this film, and I assume most of them where written by people that saw it a long time ago and only vaguely remember the highlights of it. I'm going to try write something useful.
This movie just isn't that good, mainly for two reasons: it is way to slow, and it doesn't add anything to what you already know about it: it has absolutely no surprises. Sure enough, there are some plotholes, BIG ONES, but that is to be expected in a movie like this and I'm not going to make a big deal out of it.
In conclusion, this film seems to be trapped between being a classic b-movie, and what you might call a psychological thriller (though I doubt if any psychiatrist would aprove of that consept), but succeeds as neither. The highlight of the movie is probably the scene in the end when the custodian comes out in the morning and starts gatehering up the remains of the melting man.
There is no interesting stuff on the DVD version either.

A very low budget lousy movie!
Don't waste your time or money on this cheapie. Both the story and acting are bad beyond belief and Leonard Maltin is absolutely right when he says that the ONLY good thing in the movie is the special effects for the melting astronaut.

My God!!! It's An EAR !!!!!
The ending scene in this superlative film set an unusually high standard for special effects in cinema. We see the poor man sitting there, the live actor, skin all runny and saggy -- then, seamlessly, he dissolves right before our eyes. I have lain awake nights contemplating how they achieved that effect, for there was no cutaway, no editing, no shift of view: The man simply melted. One explanation is that the real actor truly did melt because we certainly never saw him again after this flick. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

So GOOD it's Spooky
I bought Spooky House for my grandchildren ages 4 and 10. We watched it together three times on Thanksgiving. Then they watched it three more times the next day. It is great entertainment and a moving story for everyone. The kid characters are great. Mercedes is a super comedian. Ben is threatening and then loving. Disney wishes they had made this one!

A Truly Magic, Heartwarming Film
Produder/Director,William Sachs has crafted a simple storyline and turned it into very charming, funny, and touching tale that is perfect for the whole family.
Ben Kingsley, as Zamboni, "The Spooky Man", turns in a masterful performance in concert with the new, natural, and talented Matt Weinberg as Kingsley's young counterpart and eventual cohort.
Encountering the "bad kids", ably headed by Mercedes Ruehl,
our young group of heroes, lead by Kingsley and Weinberg, send us on a merry chase with magic illusions and a surprise, touching conclusion which wraps up the adventure in a delightful way.
This is a little classic with a big heart that belongs in everyone's video library. And, for once, the price is quite reasonable (for the DVD).

Spooky House is a must see for the entire family!
Spooky House is magical fun for the entire family. Award winning Ben Kingsley as the 'Great Zamboni' is true to form as is award winning Mercedes Ruehl as the campy 'Boss'. The kids are adorable. The music will keep your toes tapping and your kids dancing. A winner!

Spooky House
I thought this was a great family film. Ben Kingsly does a fantastic acting job. The story is very moving and a great view for the children. I would recommend this film to any parent with young kids. ... Read more