Eccentric but interesting thriller. Brad Dourif puts a lot into his portrayal of the lead character, a school teacher who discovers he can start fires, and the performance is one of the main things thats lifts the film out of the rut.

With its evocation of a strange little town dominated a large nuclear plant the film recalled for me "Strange Behavior" (1981) (AKA "Dead Kids"). The films show an odd mix of architecture, clothing fashion and interior decoration from different eras that makes placing and dating the film difficult. Overall its look and generally offbeat characters gives the film an effective unreal sort of quality. Also similar to "Strange Behavior" is the murky, complex, slowly unfolding story and the sinister scientist who is controlling everything. Also Dey Young is a cast member of both films, sadly underused here.

What happened to Tobe Hooper? The genius that fuelled such genre classics as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist is in short supply in the likes of this and Crocodile. This is a poor man's Firestarter, although plotted with an interesting premise: a baby conceived during nuclear testing literally becomes the 'Atomic Man'. Unfortunately, the film is let down by an over-wordy script that goes nowhere for much of the movie, and too much directing in the dark, and low-budget camera-work which really doesn't help.

The latter half of the film serves only as a showcase for lots of fiery special effects, which are admittedly decent; shots of Dourif with fire blasting from his body are good value for money, and the scenes of human torches are also great stuff – over the top (especially in the case of a cameoing John Landis) but still fun. Sadly, things get a little TOO unwieldy come the movie's cheesy climax, which resorts to computer-generated effects work which just doesn't cut it in this day and age, although the sight of burned and burning bodies does pack a disturbing punch every now and then.

Brad Dourif, that reliable character actor, is definitely the best thing in this movie, and his crazed 40-year old college student dominates the screen from one moment to the next. When Dourif starts getting toasty towards the movie's climax, his acting goes way over the top, and he single-handedly provides most of the movie's entertainment. The supporting cast is fairly undistinguished, with Jon Cypher's vanilla bad guy and Cynthia Bain's boring heroine becoming quickly forgettable. SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION is an adequate horror film that may pass the time for undemanding viewers.

A young man finds out that his parents had been used in an atomic-weapons experiment shortly before he was born, and that the results have had some unexpected effects on him.

So, following his passing in 2017, I figured it was time to go back through Tobe Hooper's career and watch the films of his I had previously missed. After all, this was a "master of horror". But the sad truth has been coming out... most of his work is just average.

"Spontaneous Combustion" is a good concept with a bad title, and lackluster execution. Shockingly, not even Brad Dourif can save this. Typically I find Dourif to be the cream of the crop for genre films, but he seems to always be going over the top in this film. Is this supposed to be because he is always running a fever or something? There is no reason for him to always be agitated.