History Film / TheIncredibleMeltingMan

* SleazyPhotoshoot: A photographer is shooting outdoor photos of a model in a tube top and short shorts. After shooting several pics, he tries to talk her into taking her top off. She's not having it and tries to refuse, but he starts putting his hands on her arms to try to calm her down, and then pulls her top down, snapping photos while grabbing her hands so she can't cover herself. Not only is she angered and embarrassed, as she's trying to get away from him she stumbles into the remains of the fisherman Steve killed, traumatizing her even more.

* CatScare: A particularly nonsensical one.

* ArtisticLicenseSpace: Saturn, being a gas giant, doesn't have [[StrollingOnJupiter a surface on which a spaceship can land]] or from which it can take off. In addition, the StockFootage isn't of the rings of Saturn.[[note]]They don't even remotely look like the rings of Saturn, in fact.[[/note]] It's footage of the Sun, complete with [[IncendiaryExponent Coronal Mass Ejections.]] However this film gets a pass because that discovery was not made until a few months ''after'' the movie was released. It is possibly for this reason that the novelization has Steve traveling to Mars rather than Saturn.

The bad news: that's not good news.

* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler: As soon as Judy mention's that her mother and her boyfriend Harold are coming over for dinner, they show up on screen to become Steve's next victims. Even worse, he somehow manages to stumble onto them in the middle of nowhere.]]

* TheSeventies: Hopelessly so. The hair, the outfits, the interior decor... dear God.

* {{Padding}}: Hope you like repeated shots of a woman knitting.

* TheSeventies: Not mentioned, but the score lifted from ''Series/{{The Incredible Hulk|1977}}'', the many turtlenecks, and Judy's tight-waisted flared pants give it away.

* {{Angrish}}: '''HOTCHGKA!''' (Ted's surprisingly naturalistic cry of pain when tries to pick up a boiling pot.)

''Not to be confused with The Molten Man, a Franchise/SpiderMan supervillain.''

You see, Doctor Steve West's time over on Saturn has left him slowly melting into glop while simultaneously giving him superhuman strength and an insatiable appetite that only human flesh can sate. Don't bother asking about [[FridgeLogic how he can easily pull victims apart with a rapidly deteriorating musculoskeletal structure]]; that'll just get in the way of all the ooey-gooey makeup effects! To its credit, this is one of the things the movie does well; Creator/RickBaker's nastily convincing special effects really do look every bit like a man slowly liquifying before our eyes, and the movie is packed with NauseaFuel and graphic violence that really stood out at the time.

The director, William Sachs, initially intended for the film to be a parody of other sci-fi horror films, but it became more of a straight horror movie during production. Several scenes were re-shot or altered without Sachs's input; some moments from the more comedic original script remain intact, however, resulting in the surreal tone of the film.

* ActionSurvivor: A random woman is not only one of the few people to survive a close encounter with the Melting Man, but she's also the ''only'' person in the entire film who manages to seriously wound him (by chopping off his arm) and drive it away.
* AmbulanceCut: An odd case. The Melting Man's pursuit of his first victim, the nurse, cuts out just as he's about to catch her, to a very '70s station wagon ambulance, siren blaring, pulling up to the hospital... but one assumes she was found dead ''at'' the hospital, so that was presumably an unrelated ambulance in an EstablishingShot. It's just the prevalence of the AmbulanceCut that makes the moment just slightly dissonant.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler: Amazingly the black Dr. Loring is one of the few characters to survive, albeit by virtue of disappearing from the film halfway through.]]
** [[spoiler: So does an unnamed black janitor who scoops the Melting Man’s remains.]]

* BystanderSyndrome: As the Melting Man attacks the sheriff, all Ted Nelson does the entire time is simply watch with a [[DullSurprise somewhat deadpan expression]].

* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler: As soon as Judy mention's that her mother and Harold are coming over for dinner, they show up on screen to become Steve's next victims. Even worse, he somehow manages to stumble onto them in the middle of nowhere.]]
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: The Sheriff]] is manhandled onto power lines by the Incredible Melting Man. Instead of merely being electrocuted [[ShockAndAwe he lights up like magnesium in a microwave...]]
--> '''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S07E04TheIncredibleMeltingMan Crow]]:''' ''[as [[spoiler:the Sheriff]]]'' Oh, why did I go on that high-phosphorus diet?
* DangerTakesABackseat: The melting man kills an elderly couple when he creeps into the back of their car before they come back.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: As the sheriff points out (right before he's killed), Dr. Ted Nelson apparently never considered what they would ''do'' if they ever caught up with the Melting Man.
* DownerEnding: And a bizarre one. [[spoiler:Ted Nelson ''might'' have been able to save his friend if he could have studied him, but then he randomly gets shot by a security guard. Steve kills the guards in retaliation and ends up melting to death.]]
* DullSurprise: Ted Nelson, when he isn't experiencing severe {{Wangst}}.

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: Steve finally recognizes Ted, and when the latter is killed, he kills the guards in revenge. Unfortunately, it doesn't save him, and the real FridgeHorror is Steve being fully aware now of who he is - and melting to death as he does.]]

* GratuitousRape: The superfluous scene where the photographer assaults his model is there just to show breasts in the film.

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Ted Nelson is shot and killed while trying and failing to convince a security guard that the melting monster is a man in need of rescue.]]
* HorrorHunger: Ted speculates that Steve kills and eats people because it slows his melting.
* ImMelting: Well, obviously. Though it must be said that the melting man seems to melt at the speed of plot.

* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: Apparently, Judy felt a disturbance in the Force as she gets the (correct) feeling her mother and her boyfriend were dead. Justified a little in that she knows there's a deranged killer wandering around out there.
* NeutralFemale: Judy. Though to her credit, she does end up shouting at Ted and the General to put some actual effort into looking for Steve.
** Ted is a good example of a Neutral Male since he [[spoiler: stands by and does absolutely nothing while the Melting Man overpowers the Sheriff and subsequently tosses him into some power lines.]]

* ParentsAsPeople: Despite being ComicRelief, Judy's mother is having an affair with a man she's not married to. They joke and snark around with each other in a loving way. Even for TheSeventies, it was unusual to depict older unmarried couples having an active sex life.
* SayMyName: "I'M TED NELSON!" ''[[spoiler: BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!]]''
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Judy's mother when guard dogs start attacking them when they're trespassing on a lemon grove.
* ShockAndAwe: [[spoiler: The fate of the Sheriff]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog: The eponymous character is an astronaut who has been irradiated on his way back from Saturn and who is slowly melting to death. There is no cure whatsoever. Only killing and consuming people stops his pain, even briefly. [[spoiler:In the end, during a confrontation at a power plant, his best friend is endangered and the astronaut regains a bit of humanity and saves his life — but said friend is shot to death by a pair of random security guards. The astronaut kills the guards, collapses and expires. A janitor cleans up what's left of the astronaut the next day and throws him into the garbage. Oh, also? ''More'' astronauts are headed to Saturn.]]

* SleazyPhotoshoot: A photographer is shooting outdoor photos of a model in a tube top and short shorts. After shooting several pics, he tries to talk her into taking her top off. She's not having it and tries to refuse, but he starts putting his hands on her arms to try to calm her down, and then pulls her top down, snapping photos while grabbing her hands so she can't cover herself. Not only is she angered and embarrassed, as she's trying to get away from him she stumbles into the remains of one of the Melting Man's victims, traumatizing her even more.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The sheriff's radio is playing a sprightly country-western song when he finds the corpses of Judy's mother and her gentleman companion.
* SuperStrength: [[BlessedWithSuck Apparently a side effect of the melting.]]
* SuperWindowJump: Variant - the nurse ''runs'' through a glass door while the Melting Man is chasing her. As per the trope, she shows no signs of injury from it.

* TooDumbToLive: Ted Nelson. [[spoiler:And he doesn't.]]
* TragicMonster: Dr. Steve West seemed to be a nice-enough guy before his mutation, especially given Nelson's positive statements about his friend. But his space voyage to Saturn caused his skin to start melting and forced West to hunt down and eat people to stave off the pain.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer showed Melty becoming a pile of goo at the end, but since it was the film's MoneyShot, it was probably too good to not tantalize viewers with.
* VaderBreath: Steve West/The Melting Man emits a labored breathing sound as he walks around.
* YourHeadAsplode: Your Head Falls Onto a Rock and Bursts Like a Watermelon.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: Not that you'll care, really.]]

* MoralDissonance: Judy's mother and Harold opt not to buy candy as a gift for their visit because they don't want her eating candy while pregnant. Eventually, they decide to buy a bottle of wine.
** Ted, a doctor who should really know better, gives his pregnant wife drugs so she can sleep.
---> '''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S07E04TheIncredibleMeltingMan Servo]]:''' Meanwhile, her baby is discovering the wonders of goofballs.

* SleazyPhotoshoot: A photographer is shooting outdoor photos of a model in a tube top and [[WhoWearsShortShorts short shorts]]. After shooting several pics, he tries to talk her into taking her top off. She's not having it and tries to refuse, but he starts putting his hands on her arms to try to calm her down, and then pulls her top down, snapping photos while grabbing her hands so she can't cover herself. Not only is she angered and embarrassed, as she's trying to get away from him she stumbles into the remains of one of the Melting Man's victims, traumatizing her even more.