Gil McKenna (Robert Clarke), an alcoholic research scientist, is exposed to a new kind of radiation that causes him to change into a scaled creature whenever he’s struck by sunlight. Ann Russell (Patricia Manning), a colleague with more than a scientific interest in Gil, tries to find a cure. The overly-emotional Gil spends his time drinking and picking up an attractive bar singer (Nan Peterson), both of which lead him to end up in sunlight.
I try to critique and review films objectively. I have reasons for liking films (i.e. it’s not all just opinion). I study each film, evaluating it. Does if have a valuable theme? Does it present it in a way which illuminates the subject and allow the viewer to see it in a new way? Is the story original? Is it at least competently made, that is, does it demonstrate that the director and crew we’re skilled in their jobs? Were there exceptional lighting techniques used that aided in creating a mood and advancing the theme? I could go on.
But then I get to The Hideous Sun Demon and I can’t watch it as a blank slate. I saw it first when I was very young, and outside of the Universal classics, I hadn’t seen a humanoid monster movie. Oh, there were insane killers, gothic ghost stories (which normally came down to insane killers), unseen spirits, killer cockroaches, lizards, aliens, atomic dinosaurs, and any number of other less-intriguing horror oriented apparitions, but no old fashioned monsters. Later I’d find the Hammer pictures and I Was a Teenage Werewolf, but for a brief time The Hideous Sun Demon was it for “new” monsters. And I loved it. It had it all: a questionable protagonist, a hot blonde with lots of cleavage, bad guys who got killed right when they think they are soooo tough, a fall off a high tower, and a first class rubber suit. Well, it was mainly the suit.
So, how does it hold up these many years later? It’s hard to say as I go into it with a favorable slant. But, trying my best to filter that, the alcoholic theme still works. Gil is not a great guy. He drinks and he’s not big on thinking things out. In addition to the straightforward comments about his hangover causing the accident and his repeatedly popping up at bars, the transformation can be taken as a statement on alcoholism. Gil’s nice enough and certainly charismatic normally, but he can’t seem to help going out in the sun, and after a few shots of sunlight, he’s surly, violent, and abusive.
The Noir flavor nearly works. The cinematography isn’t skillful enough for that to be an unqualified success, and the criminals are too broad and clichéd, but then that was true in any Film Noirs shot by 1959.
And then there is the suit. Sure, it’s rubber. Sure, we can do much better now. But it’s a cool monster suit anyway you look at it. I also love that it is sunlight that changes Gil into a monster, not the moon or darkness. I can’t figure why there haven’t been more films that focused on the evil of the sun. I’m a night person myself, and like in most vampire movies, I’m not sympathetic to Gil’s whining about not being able to go out in the day. Who wants to go out in the day? The bright light washes out all the color, the best clubs are closed, and you might turn into a monster.
A few things don’t work so well: the static camera whenever anyone other than Robert Clarke (who not only stars, but wrote and directed) is onscreen; the uninspiring dialog; the random acts of stupidity (such as Gil driving a convertible); the day for night scenes that just look like day; the feeble fight choreography; the medical doctor that breaks into an inaccurate explanation of evolution when asked how Gil is doing; the reduction of the size of LA—one murder has all the citizens of the city on edge and every road is blocked; the muffled sound. But what are any of those compared to a cool monster suit?
So, for my rating, I’m splitting the difference between my enjoyment and what I think it really deserves.
I have a question for anyone who lived in LA in the late ’50s—what where the zoning regulations like? In The Hideous Sun Demon, there is oil drilling in residential areas and it looks like it was filmed on location. Perhaps I missed the point of the film. Perhaps it is a plea for better zoning, to save the children. Think about it…