THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON (1958)

During an experiment, scientist Robert Clarke gets a large dose of radiation and falls ill. One doctor suspects the problem is mostly Clarke's well-known thirst for alcohol (fellow scientist Patrick Whyte tells lab assistant Patricia Manning—who seems to have a little crush on Clarke—that "whiskey and soda mix, not whiskey and science"). Clarke generally seems OK but he's kept in a hospital for observation. While on the roof therapeutically soaking in the rays of the sun, he falls asleep and when he awakens, he has transformed into a scaly monster with a, yes, hideous face. Getting out the sun returns him to normal. A doctor theorizes that the combination of the radioactivity and the sun's rays has somehow triggered a backwards evolution to our reptilian past. Facing a future as a kind of reverse werewolf, Clarke becomes depressed, quits his job, and stays at home and drinks. One night he winds up in a bar where he hits it off with singer (and wholesome sex kitten, if that makes sense) Nan Peterson. One night, she leaves with him and they have a midnight beach frolic, but when he wakes up at dawn, his transformation hits again and he flees in his car, leaving her stranded. The next time he meets up with her, some shady thugs decide to kick his ass for the way he treated her, but she takes him home for some more frolicking. Soon, however, one of the thugs returns for revenge, but when Clarke becomes the Sun Demon, he kills the thug and goes on the run. We know from other sci-fi films of the era that no good can come to him now.

This has a reputation, maybe based on the title, as an especially bad example of grade-Z moviemaking, but actually if you accept the low budget, it's not terrible—I know, faint praise. The story is full of holes and the sets are cheap looking, and the acting, aside from that of Clarke, who also directed, isn't stellar. But the general situation is as plausible as any other 50s tale of atomic fears, and the makeup for the Sun Demon is pretty effective. Clarke comes off as somewhat sympathetic but also to some degree a maker of his own problems—almost a film noir anti-hero—and is de facto a more interesting character than most 50s monster movie leads. I also enjoyed the full-figured Nan Peterson (whose chief acting credit seems to have been the title role in a 50s exploitation movie called LOUISIANA HUSSY) who tries hard to give her character a multi-dimensional—or at least, two-dimensional—feel. Patrick Whyte bore a passing resemblance to an older Helmut Griem, the decadent Maximilian in CABARET. This is no gem, but it's better than its rep, and is worth a watch. [Streaming]