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Description

“Your meteor brought something all right but if it’s a germ, it’s the biggest son of a bitch you’ve ever seen!”

Continuing on from where left off with “The Fly”, let’s look into another 1980 remake of a classic film I never saw: 1988’s “The Blob”. In some ways “The Blob” is quite similar to “The Fly”, outside them both beginning with the classic horror title word of “The”. Both are remakes to beloved classics that have largely become forgotten thanks to time and these remakes taking audience attention; both films are well known for their fantastic special effects; and both movies capitalized on their effects through stories that changed heavily during the transition in becoming a remake. “The Thing” is another proud member of this group of remakes, and it’s amazing when you think about how they all came out on the 80’s, and all have become celebrated horror classics.

However let’s get back to “The Blob”, and what it is. The titular Blob, unlike the other aforementioned monsters, hasn’t really gotten much love in recent years. There have been references to this growing, giant mass of digestive goo, in particular to films like 2009’s “Monsters vs Aliens” (which also had a Fly reference), but in one of the popular series in Goosebumps. However it hasn’t gotten any recent remakes like “The Thing” (for better or for worse), and isn’t as famed for its effects like “The Thing” or “The Fly”. It’s unfortunate, as the monster is still interesting in concept. Seeing a gelatinous glob eat everything and grow to titanic size is a fun film idea, and I think more should be done with it. Perhaps it can be another remake, or something a bit more original. Either way, I’d love for “The Blob” to make a modern return. Until that day comes though, we have this 1988 remake to go over.

In the calm, peaceful town of Arborville, California, a meteor crashes out in the woods. A homeless man comes upon it, finding a strange gooey lump inside the burning core of the space rock. When he comes in contact with it, the thing immediately grabs for his hand and starts to devour it. He’s brought in to a hospital by a passing teenage couple and a young rebel, where he is then nearly eaten away by the alien blob’s digestive body. With the body count rising one by one then two and more, the town is thrown into disarray, and the blob grows more in size as it eats whatever crosses its path. How many will get eaten until the blob is taken down? Or for that matter, can the blob be destroyed?

The cast is quite colorful in terms of character, and I think the sleepy,California town serves as a great setting for them to interact with each other. There’s a lot of stereotypical American characters you’d expect from an 80’s and even a bit of a 50’s setting: like the bike-riding rebel, the football jock, the preppy high-school girl and her reverend father, along with all sorts of other characters. However these same characters aren’t simply stereotypes, as they change with the developing situation and even evolve from those archetypes into something different. Sure, some of it is predictable by today’s standards, but it’s still entertaining and makes you enjoy seeing these characters. Plus, there’s an additional enjoyment to be had in seeing a somewhat 50’s-80’s esque town and its people have to contend with a giant man-eating blob.
The acting itself is pretty good, and the cast does a fine job in making you either care or find them entertaining with the screen-time they’re given. Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith are great as the leading duo, with Dillon being a particularly enjoyable actor for his character as the rebellious Brian Flagg. Most of the film is filed with secondary characters and single-scene extras, but a lot of them are very entertaining with what they got.

Like “The Fly”, the effects are one of the best things in this movie. However, unlike the Fly, it doesn’t try to keep it all contained in the final third. The effects are on show for much of the film, and like the blob itself it starts slow and gradually gets bigger and flashier as it develops. At first you get some small sized puppetry, along with the half-melted bodies of one character or two, before the blob itself starts to grow with more complex effects. Each instance of the Blob on screen is better than the last, and the film delivers greatly when presenting all this on-screen. The gooey, acidic melting of anything that comes into contact with the Blob is excellent, with the Blob itself having this juicy and cool appearance to it. Like a lot of films in its decade, “The Blob” does a wonderful job with its special effects, and every bit of it is purely practical with very little done in green-screen.

The horror of the movie is entirely visual, and is pretty simple. It doesn’t try to use any suspense or any scares byond what’s on-screen, but what it does is entertaining. Unless you’re very sensitive to gore and blood, it probably won’t really scare you. The levels of disturbing though is quite low too, as a lot of the blob’s kills are literally enveloped in pink slime; it’s gross, yes, but scaring potential is low due to how much of it is covered up. So while it’s not truly horrific, it is nevertheless enjoyable.

As for the story itself, it’s fun but nothing deep. There’s a conspiracy surrounding the blob, and moments of mistrust when Dillon’s character is momentarily thought to be responsible for the initial two deaths. However that’s about as complicated as the story gets, and a lot of it is really just the monster killing people and getting bigger. The first several deaths are uniquely great, but as the body count gets bigger it sorta just blends in with each other. A lot of the secondary cast either dies off or is pushed deep into the background, and the main two leads start to get less weight in their presence when the action bits take over. Also the ending is weak, to put it nicely. The initial conclusion with the Blob dying is fine, but then it over-extends itself with a lackluster and pointless cliffhanger ending. This movie is far more entertaining in what it does than what it ultimately says. It’s a B-movie monster flick with a bigger budget, and I accept it as such.

So while the story isn’t really that great, the effects and action are entertainingly awesome. You’ll really love the effects, and may even get a favorite scene or two for it. I’d recommend this film for something to watch with a group of friends to sit back and enjoy.

Description

“Your meteor brought something all right but if it’s a germ, it’s the biggest son of a bitch you’ve ever seen!”

Continuing on from where left off with “The Fly”, let’s look into another 1980 remake of a classic film I never saw: 1988’s “The Blob”. In some ways “The Blob” is quite similar to “The Fly”, outside them both beginning with the classic horror title word of “The”. Both are remakes to beloved classics that have largely become forgotten thanks to time and these remakes taking audience attention; both films are well known for their fantastic special effects; and both movies capitalized on their effects through stories that changed heavily during the transition in becoming a remake. “The Thing” is another proud member of this group of remakes, and it’s amazing when you think about how they all came out on the 80’s, and all have become celebrated horror classics.

However let’s get back to “The Blob”, and what it is. The titular Blob, unlike the other aforementioned monsters, hasn’t really gotten much love in recent years. There have been references to this growing, giant mass of digestive goo, in particular to films like 2009’s “Monsters vs Aliens” (which also had a Fly reference), but in one of the popular series in Goosebumps. However it hasn’t gotten any recent remakes like “The Thing” (for better or for worse), and isn’t as famed for its effects like “The Thing” or “The Fly”. It’s unfortunate, as the monster is still interesting in concept. Seeing a gelatinous glob eat everything and grow to titanic size is a fun film idea, and I think more should be done with it. Perhaps it can be another remake, or something a bit more original. Either way, I’d love for “The Blob” to make a modern return. Until that day comes though, we have this 1988 remake to go over.

In the calm, peaceful town of Arborville, California, a meteor crashes out in the woods. A homeless man comes upon it, finding a strange gooey lump inside the burning core of the space rock. When he comes in contact with it, the thing immediately grabs for his hand and starts to devour it. He’s brought in to a hospital by a passing teenage couple and a young rebel, where he is then nearly eaten away by the alien blob’s digestive body. With the body count rising one by one then two and more, the town is thrown into disarray, and the blob grows more in size as it eats whatever crosses its path. How many will get eaten until the blob is taken down? Or for that matter, can the blob be destroyed?

The cast is quite colorful in terms of character, and I think the sleepy,California town serves as a great setting for them to interact with each other. There’s a lot of stereotypical American characters you’d expect from an 80’s and even a bit of a 50’s setting: like the bike-riding rebel, the football jock, the preppy high-school girl and her reverend father, along with all sorts of other characters. However these same characters aren’t simply stereotypes, as they change with the developing situation and even evolve from those archetypes into something different. Sure, some of it is predictable by today’s standards, but it’s still entertaining and makes you enjoy seeing these characters. Plus, there’s an additional enjoyment to be had in seeing a somewhat 50’s-80’s esque town and its people have to contend with a giant man-eating blob.
The acting itself is pretty good, and the cast does a fine job in making you either care or find them entertaining with the screen-time they’re given. Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith are great as the leading duo, with Dillon being a particularly enjoyable actor for his character as the rebellious Brian Flagg. Most of the film is filed with secondary characters and single-scene extras, but a lot of them are very entertaining with what they got.

Like “The Fly”, the effects are one of the best things in this movie. However, unlike the Fly, it doesn’t try to keep it all contained in the final third. The effects are on show for much of the film, and like the blob itself it starts slow and gradually gets bigger and flashier as it develops. At first you get some small sized puppetry, along with the half-melted bodies of one character or two, before the blob itself starts to grow with more complex effects. Each instance of the Blob on screen is better than the last, and the film delivers greatly when presenting all this on-screen. The gooey, acidic melting of anything that comes into contact with the Blob is excellent, with the Blob itself having this juicy and cool appearance to it. Like a lot of films in its decade, “The Blob” does a wonderful job with its special effects, and every bit of it is purely practical with very little done in green-screen.

The horror of the movie is entirely visual, and is pretty simple. It doesn’t try to use any suspense or any scares byond what’s on-screen, but what it does is entertaining. Unless you’re very sensitive to gore and blood, it probably won’t really scare you. The levels of disturbing though is quite low too, as a lot of the blob’s kills are literally enveloped in pink slime; it’s gross, yes, but scaring potential is low due to how much of it is covered up. So while it’s not truly horrific, it is nevertheless enjoyable.

As for the story itself, it’s fun but nothing deep. There’s a conspiracy surrounding the blob, and moments of mistrust when Dillon’s character is momentarily thought to be responsible for the initial two deaths. However that’s about as complicated as the story gets, and a lot of it is really just the monster killing people and getting bigger. The first several deaths are uniquely great, but as the body count gets bigger it sorta just blends in with each other. A lot of the secondary cast either dies off or is pushed deep into the background, and the main two leads start to get less weight in their presence when the action bits take over. Also the ending is weak, to put it nicely. The initial conclusion with the Blob dying is fine, but then it over-extends itself with a lackluster and pointless cliffhanger ending. This movie is far more entertaining in what it does than what it ultimately says. It’s a B-movie monster flick with a bigger budget, and I accept it as such.

So while the story isn’t really that great, the effects and action are entertainingly awesome. You’ll really love the effects, and may even get a favorite scene or two for it. I’d recommend this film for something to watch with a group of friends to sit back and enjoy.