The Hideous Sun Demon (1958)

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The Hideous Sun Demon (sometimes billed as The Sun Demon, or in the UK as Blood on His Lips) is a 1958 American science fiction horror film produced, directed, and cowritten by Robert Clarke, who also starred in the title role. It also stars Patricia Manning, Nan Peterson, Patrick Whyte, and Fred La Porta. The film focuses on a scientist (portrayed by Clarke) who is exposed to a radioactive isotope and soon finds out that it comes with horrifying consequences.

Synopsis

After exposure to radiation, an atomic research scientist finds himself changing into a murderous, lizard-like creature every time he is exposed to sunlight.

Plot[]

Warning: this text contains details about the plot/ending of the film.

When research scientist Dr. Gilbert "Gil" McKenna (Clarke) falls unconscious after accidentally being exposed to radiation during an experiment with a new radioactive isotope, he is rushed to a nearby hospital. Attending physician Dr. Stern (Robert Garry) is surprised to find that Gil shows no signs of burns typical for five-minute exposure to radiation and informs Gil's co-workers, lab assistant Ann Russell (Patricia Manning) and scientist Dr. Frederick Buckell (Patrick Whyte), that he will keep the patient under observation for several days.

Later, Gil is taken to a solarium to receive the sun's healing rays. While he naps, he transforms into a reptilian creature, horrifying the other patients. Fleeing from the scene, Gil discovers his new appearance. Stern notifies Ann and Dr. Buckell about the incident, theorizing that the exposure to radiation caused a reversal of evolution, transforming Gil into a prehistoric reptile after exposure to sunlight. Stern suggests that Gil can control his symptoms by staying in the dark and remaining in the hospital, but admits that the patient cannot be held against his will.

Having reverted to normal, a disconsolate Gil notifies Ann of his resignation. Confining himself to his house and only coming out at night, Gil spends his hours drinking and wandering aimlessly around the grounds of his estate. He later drives to a bar where sultry piano player Trudy Osborne (Nan Peterson) is performing.

Buckell soon receives word that noted radiation-poisoning specialist Dr. Jacob Hoffman (Fred La Porta) has agreed to help Gil and plans on arriving in the area within a few days. When radiation poisoning studies offer no leads on solving Gil's own particular symptoms, the distraught scientist contemplates suicide, but soon changes his mind. Instead, Gil returns to the bar where Trudy joins him for a drink and comments that the evening is not over because it is "never late until the sun comes up." Although Gil is disturbed by the comment, his loneliness draws him closer to her. When bar patron George insinuates that he has purchased Trudy's company for the evening, Gil defends her, causing a fight between the two men. After knocking George unconscious, Gil flees with Trudy into the night. Later that evening, after walking the shoreline, they make love, falling asleep in the sand until the morning light awakens Gil. Horrified, Gil flees in his car leaving Trudy stranded on the beach. Arriving at the house, Gil runs in, but not before the transformation occurs.

Ann soon arrives, discovering Gil cowering in the cellar in a state of shock. Believing that he is beyond help, Gil at first refuses to see Dr. Hoffman, but after Ann's tearful pleading, Gil reluctantly agrees. During the examination, Dr. Hoffman orders Gil to remain in the house at all times as a precaution until he can return with help. Feeling guilty for leaving Trudy, Gil returns to the bar but is brutally beaten by George and his gang. Gil regains consciousness the next morning and discovers that Trudy, having felt sorry for him, brought him home to her apartment. George soon arrives and, upon seeing Gil, forces him at gunpoint out into the daylight. Transforming into the creature, Gil murders George in front of the horrified Trudy before fleeing into the hills. Returning to the house, Gil finds Ann, Dr. Hoffman and Buckell waiting there and returns to his normal human state. A disturbed Gil later admits to the murder, with the others assuring him that he acted in self-defense, but when the police arrive with an arrest warrant, the hysterical Gil flees from the grounds in his car and accidentally hits a police officer.

Hiding inside an oil field shack while police comb the area and set up roadblocks, Gil is discovered by young Suzy who offers to fetch him cookies. Hurrying back to her house, Suzy is caught hoarding cookies by her mother and is forced to reveal who they are for. While her mother calls the police, Suzy slips out of the door to return to Gil. Her mother chases after her into the oil field, and police cars soon arrive. Realizing Suzy is endangered by being with him, Gil carries the girl out of the shack into the sunlight where he lets her go. He soon transforms into the creature. In the ensuing police chase, Gil slaughters one of the officers and then climbs the stairs to the top of a tall natural gas tank, where the remaining officer chases after him. As Gil begins to strangle him, the officer shoots Gil in the neck. Mortally wounded, the mutated Gil falls several stories to his death while Buckell, Hoffman and a sobbing Ann watch in dismay.

Cast[]

Robert Clarke as Dr. Gilbert McKenna / The Sun Demon
Patricia Manning as Ann Russell
Nan Peterson as Trudy Osborne
Patrick Whyte as Dr. Frederick Buckell
Fred La Porta as Dr. Jacon Hoffman
Peter Similuk as George Messorio
Bill Hampton as Police Lt. Peterson
Robert Garry as Dr. Stern
Donna King as Suzy's Mother
Xandra Conkling as Suzy
Del Courtney as Radio DJ

Production[]

Development[]

Development for The Hideous Sun Demon began after the 1957 release of The Astounding She-Monster, a science fiction film starring Clarke. In his contract for the film, Clarke was promised five percent of She-Monster's profits in addition to his salary. Although Clarke later admitted that the film was poorly made, it was a financial success, with Clarke receiving a sizable sum from the film's box office returns. Inspired by that film's financial success, Clarke decided to direct his own low-budget science fiction film. According to Clarke, the story for the film was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which dealt with multiple personalities. Clarke and co-writer/director Tom Boutross wrote the first draft of the screenplay (although some sources, including Clarke himself, say his friend Phil Hiner co-wrote the first draft), then-titled Saurus or Sauros, names taken from the Latin word meaning "reptile". Other working titles for the film included Strange Pursuit and Terror in the Sun. Boutross, who is also credited as one of the film's co-directors, later edited films like Rat Fink (1965), A Man Called Dagger (1967) and 1974 hit The Legend of Boggy Creek. The first draft of the script was significantly different from what would be shown in the finished film. The original storyline centered on an explorer and a female lawyer searching for uranium in the country of Guatemala. While there, they are tormented by a man who had been mutated by experiments conducted on him by his scientist father, who is an expert in radiation, and when the young man is exposed to the sun, he transforms into a reptilian creature.

The film's crew consisted of students from the University of Southern California. Clarke pitched the story idea to Robin Kirkman, a student at USC, who liked the idea. The two men formed the production company Clarke-King Enterprises, and Kirkman worked as the film's associate producer. E.S. Seely, who later directed the 1961 film Shangri-La, wrote the final draft of the film's screenplay, which was then rewritten by Doane R. Hoag who "polished the dialogue", according to Clarke. The film was initially budgeted at $10,000, but by the end of production, it had cost $50,000 in total. The film was Clarke's first and only effort as writer or director.

Release[]

Theatrical release[]

Clarke initially had no distribution deals set up for the film. Clarke's brother – a sales manager at an Amarillo, Texas, television station – put him into contact with the owner of several local drive-in theaters. Clarke agreed to premiere his film in Amarillo, and it played on a double bill with the Roger Corman film Attack of the Crab Monsters, under the alternate title The Sun Demon, on August 29, 1958. Peterson and Clarke appeared at the premiere, and, after the film, performed an interview together. While the audience was distracted, Clarke changed into his costume and made an appearance as the Sun Demon. After this success, Clarke declined a distribution deal with American International Pictures and instead chose a competitor, Miller-Consolidated Pictures, who distributed it across the US and UK in December 1959. Clarke made additional personal appearances as the Sun Demon. However, eighteen months after the company started distributing the film, it went bankrupt. Because of this, Clarke never saw any income from the deal. Clarke later sold off the films rights to various distributors. In the United Kingdom, the film was distributed by D.U.K. and released with the title Blood on His Lips.

Home media release[]

The Hideous Sun Demon was released on VHS as a part of Elvira's Movie Macabre by Rhino Home Video on September 8, 1993. It was later released by First Look Home Entertainment on September 18, 1997. The film made its debut on DVD on March 21, 2000, issued by Image Entertainment. It was later re-released by Image Entertainment as a two-disc double feature on December 30, 2003, paired with a comically redubbed sequel titled What's Up, Hideous Sun Demon or Revenge of the Sun Demon. This version of the film was later released on DVD by Image Entertainment on July 15, 2003.

Reception[]

Critical reception for The Hideous Sun Demon has been mostly negative. In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin gave the film a negative review, saying that "wordy dialogue, poor acting, uneven photography and sub-standard sound all add to the disadvantage of a hopelessly illogical plot".

Bob Stephens of the San Francisco Chronicle, in a 2000 review, criticized the film's narrative slightness and Peter Similuk's casting, but also wrote that he "must confess that I enjoy Demon. Its naivete is a more reliable pathway to wonder than the cynicism and condescension of contemporary fantasy films could ever be". TV Guide gave the film a negative review, awarding it 1.5 out of 4 stars and calling it "laughable", but also commented that the monster costume was good. Leonard Maltin gave the film a negative review, criticised the film's production values, calling it "hideous".

Author Jeff Rovin called it "a clever twist on the Wolfman theme" and an "effective and gritty film [that] boasts an excellent monster costume". Allmovie gave the film a positive review, calling it "a staple of TV horror programming since the early 1960s" and praising the film's claustrophobic feel, editing and actor/director Clarke's performance as the lead character, while criticizing the film's stock characters and "clunky" dialogue. In Cult Horror Films, Welch D. Everman wrote that the film expresses traditional 1950s themes: a warning about the dangers of nonconformity and a mixed message about nuclear energy. Chris Barsanti wrote in The Sci-Fi Movie Guide that the film distinguishes itself from other 1950s radioactive monster films by being an allegory for alcoholism.

External links[]

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