THE INCREDIBLE HULK's (1977) Jekyll and Hyde transformations were like something from a horror film (those white eyes!). Bill Bixby sold them for all he was worth, fighting back the monster within. He was magnificent.
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It's easy to laugh at Ferrigno Hulk now (and then too tbh) in comparison to the comicbook version, but man that first transformation was perfect - and terrifying.
One huge thing this TV show had going for it was they played it straight, no Adam West camp or winking at the audience...
... And Bixby deserves a lot of credit for that. Like you said he really sold it for all it's worth and gave it 100% authenticity and integrity.
A lesson that was still being forgotten decades later when it came to superhero movies & TV shows
I was about five years old when I watched this for the first time. Definitely scarred for life! I watched every episode in a high state of anxiety waiting for Bill Bixby's eyes to turn white and the high sting of the synths to signal the start of the change. Still gives me the shivers!
My first car, passed on from my mum, was a bright green 1973 Triumph 1300. She'd called it Little Lou, in reference to Lou Ferrigno. It was green, temperamental but with significantly less than Hulk-like proportions.
I adored it but it definitely had a mind of its own!
My parents let me watch countless horror films from WAY too young an age, and although some things scared me and some things haunted me, *this* was the one thing that absolutely terrified me, in the 'scream and run out of the room' way (well, this and the intro to The South Bank Show)
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One huge thing this TV show had going for it was they played it straight, no Adam West camp or winking at the audience...
A lesson that was still being forgotten decades later when it came to superhero movies & TV shows
I adored it but it definitely had a mind of its own!
So melancholic.
And I always found his eyes as he changed immensely creepy.