Product: The Blob (1988)
Rating: 4.0
Terror Has No Shape...But It Looks Kinda like Jell-O
Chuck Russell's 1988 version of the classic horror film THE BLOB is really less a remake and more what is nowadays called a "re-imagining." Both films have the same fundamental plot: Gelatinous hunk of sentient goop piggybacks to Earth on a meteor, then proceeds to eat--or, more accurately, dissolve and absorb--every living creature it encounters, while in the mean time, two in-the-know teenagers try to warn the incredulous populace of a nearby rural town. The original 1958 production, starring a young Steve McQueen, is a satire of 1950s white-bread conservatism, as well as a tongue-in-cheek parody of that decade's popular sci-fi and horror films. The more recent film, on the other hand, is basically straight-on horror, and fans of the older film should therefore not delve into the newer one with the hopes of finding that familiar gee-whiz tone--it just ain't there.As a basic '80s horror flick, however, the 1988 incarnation of THE BLOB is actually quite good. The story is fairly tight and gripping, and there aren't too many noticeable plot holes. The two principal characters are, in contrast to the original, earnest and fairly accurate depictions of teens from the film's era, and the two actors portraying them--Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith--are decidedly adequate for the task. There is, of course, more blood and guts in this film than in the original, with several shots peering into the insides of the translucent monster as its human meals dissolve in potently acidic digestive juices. And though the amorphous lump of goo here bears a stronger resemblance to Jell-O than to its hip 1950s predecessor--yes, Steve McQueen's globular extraterrestrial nemesis actually looks pretty cool, despite the stop-motion technique used to animate it--the special FX in this film are very well done and quite realistic, and the aforementioned "digestion" scenes will definitely delight gore hounds.Although there is no doubt that Chuck Russell's 1988 "re-imagining" of THE BLOB is built on the dusty foundation of the first, making a qualitative comparison of the two is really unjustified, as each filmmaker created their work with different ends in mind. As mentioned before, the 1958 film presents a satirical and parodic look at the decade in which it was made, whereas the 1988 film offers up straightforward scares, thrills, and chills. Consequently, each film will evoke a different response from the audience--one a smirk, the other gooseflesh. So although the 1988 version does not have the multi-layered subtext of the film that came before it, it certainly is a generator of goose bumps aplenty, and as such, it is just as successful--if not just as "good"--as the original.The Columbia/Tristar DVD edition of 1988's THE BLOB offers a crisp widescreen digital transfer at a very reasonable price, so even those who find they like this version but still prefer the original can afford to have BOTH versions in their collections.