The story may lay the blame on the Sun in The Hideous Sun Demon (1958), but this is more of a pro-temperance story – or at least it’s more interesting seen through that prism. Dr. Gilbert McKenna is rushed to the hospital with radiation poisoning after a clumsy mistake is made with a new radioactive isotope. While he’s undergoing examination, his assistant and his boss argue over whether the mistake comes from a headache – or a hangover.
Mysteriously, Dr. McKenna seems unharmed, but during hospital observation he’s exposed to the sun’s rays and transforms into a hideous monster. Oh, well, I actually thought he was sort of handsome in that way certain desert lizards can be handsome – makeup did a good job. McKenna recovers when returned to a darkened room, and thus for long-term recovery he’s consigned to a house.
Now comes a series of mistakes by Dr. McKenna, each seemingly proceeded by a good, stiff belt, and every time he’s exposed to the sun, the effects are worse and paranoia comes into evidence. Eventually, he’s running across the oil fields of Santa Monica, and, after offing a few of those horrid mammals, he takes the big plunge off the upper deck of an oil storage facility.
There doesn’t seem to be many useful ways to read this movie beyond temperance, and that one’s fairly blatant. The singing was mediocre, as was the acting, and while I did say the makeup was OK, I was actually shouting to his loving assistant, Quick! Catch him! Oh, he’s drifting right, quick shift with it! Sadly, she failed to make the effort, and the reptile ended up dead.
