[.ca] Hideous Sun Demon (ISBN 6305772711)

From Amazon.com:
The Hideous Sun Demon is almost too wonderful to be believed. Scientist Dr. Gilbert McKenna drops his sample--oops!--of "a new isotope that has never existed in nature before" and consequently receives a massive dose of radiation. As so often happens in these cases, the results are gruesome and tragic--whenever he is exposed to sunlight Gil turns into a lizard man, driven to kill. "You mean a human being could evolve backwards through time?" asks the plucky Miss Lansing. Alas, her question can only be answered with a yes. Well, a yes and some hilarious "scientific" proof. Even though he becomes a murderous reptile at the pull of a curtain, some obscure legal statute says that Gil can't be kept in the hospital against his will. Full of whiskey and self-pity, he heads out on his own, a time bomb ready to go off the minute he runs out of zinc oxide. The pleasures of The Hideous Sun Demon are many: rubber lizard suits, headlines reading "Weird Killer Still at Large," a lounge singer named Trudy with an unusually lopsided piano playing style, and day-for-night sequences in which the night is so bright that one cannot see the actors' faces. Truly, a movie that must be experienced in DVD. --Ali Davis

One of the all-time "greats.":
I could go on ad infinitum about all the things that are wrong with this film, those that make it so earnestly campy or inept or histrionic or unintentionally funny or even surreal. I could tell you it's 'so bad it's good.' But that wouldn't really fill you in, as such a statement can be interpreted many ways by many different people. There are also a surprising number of things the film manages to do competently. Listing those to someone contemplating purchasing this dvd might even be counterproductive. So I will refrain. The simplest, most telling review I can write is this: The star, Robert Clarke, while wearing the rubber Sun Demon costume during filming in the hot Southern California sun, sweated profusely. The sweat ran down his torso and to his trousers. This gives the appearance during the latter stages of this movie that the Hideous Sun Demon was unable to control his bladder. If the above sounds funny to you, you will like the movie. See also: Village of the Giants; Astounding She-Monster; Teenagers From Outer Space; Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (1958)

So hideous it shouldn't have seen the light of "sun"!:
The story in this cheezy atom-age film, a man is involved in a radioactive accident, the doctor then tells him not to go into the sun or drink any alchoholic beverages, so then he does what he was told not to do. When going out into the sun for a "tan", he turns into the Hideous Sun Demon, it's a kind of Jekyll and Hyde tranformation in the sense that when he turns into this monster he starts to lose it. This movie is boring, trust me I have seen enough classic horror films and I have the right to call this one boring(I am not saying classic horror films are boring if that the impression you got). This movie just doesn't have that creepy atmosphere that the Universal classic horror collection had, not at all, nothing ever really sets the mood in this film either, it could have been great, I loved the idea and the design of the monster still remains one of my all-time favorites but I just didn't find myself enjoying this, maybe Robert Clark shouldn't have tried to do too much at once. I loved the design of the navigation menu, it looked really classic, there is a trailer for your viewing pleasure, enjoy at your own risk. The Hideous Sun Demon! Hideous indeed.

Serviceable Sci-Fi Shlocker...:
"The Hideous Sun Demon" is one of those quintessential shoestring sci-fi schlockers that is so bad it's good. When a scientist is exposed to new radioactive isotope (as is so often the case in these movies), he then becomes allergic to sunlight; the side effect being that he devolves into a lizard-man and kills people. Full of booze and paranoia, our hero takes up with a saloon singer while his sweetheart is left to fret. Silly science and lots of fiction (and skimpy budget), prevents this particular cautionary tale against "tampering with the Unknown" from being in a league with other radiation-based monster movies. There are some great scenes (mostly with the monster lying in wait to attack), but be ready for some over-the-top acting (and just plain bad acting by some inexperienced cast members!), and some el-cheapo effects work. The filmmakers do make up for a lack of budget with some creativity and imagination, but what really saves this little film is the excellent use of location shooting. Real-world venues take center stage (especially during the climactic oil tank battle hundreds of feet high up), with startling footage of oil pumps, tank farms, and girders that easily make us overlook any weaknesses in acting or effects. And to be honest, the rubber suit and mask are pretty effective. You'll have fun with this one, as long as you aren't expecting a slick big-budgeter. While far from perfect, you can tell that everyone involved really made an effort to make the movie as fun and as exciting as they could. The DVD comes with liner notes and the trailer, and the print is in pretty good shape.

Anyone smell cheese??:
This one is kind of a werewolf in reverse. Due to a dose of radiation, a scientist turns into a lizard man when exposed to sunlight. I kept waiting for something to happen. The monster looked ok for a rubber suit type creature but the movie moved pretty slowly to a predictable ending. A couple of cuties were the decoration and love interests (yes two of 'em)in this hollywood effort. The picture quality went from ok to terrible,then back to ok, as did the sound.

An odd, endearing creature feature:
Aside from its delirious title, this movie's most intriguing attribute is the fact that it was co-written, co-directed and produced by its star, Robert Clarke. To call it an auteurist project might be somewhat far-fetched, but this is about as personal as a low budget science-fiction film can possibly be. The way it blends several genres - sci-fi, horror, film noir - and B-film conventions (notably the curse of the werewolf) is odd and generally successful. The title creature manages to stand out in the massive crowd of 1950s monsters for three reasons: 1) it actually looks very good, 2) its appearances are judiciously scattered throughout the film, and 3) these scenes are directed with a keen sense of pace and suspense. There is little doubt that Clarke's elliptical storytelling is partly due to the minimal budget, but it is artistically rewarding as well: the abrupt introduction, the first transformation scene and the final showdown are impressive and memorable, true highlights among 1950s B-films. This endearingly modest creature feature should be seen.