Product: The Blob (1988)
Rating: 5.0
SILLY PUTTY
Let's not compare Chuck Russell's "revisiting" of the classic 1958 movie which was one of Steve McQueen's first starring roles. Thirty years of cinematic improvements make a comparison wholly unnecessary and unfair. THE BLOB, as envisioned by Chuck Russell (Eraser), is a scifi gorefest, with some imaginative effects and its own brand of intense mayhem.A meteor crashes to earth near a small ski-resort town. The kindly old "can man" finds the crash site, and plays around with some messy looking stuff oozing from the meteor. This stuff is actually some kind of viral mess that absorbs and spreads like wildfire. One of the main differences in the two movies is that in this version, is the monster from outer space, or...ha, no spoilers. Suffice to say, things are not what they seem.The cast is a mixture of good performers and adequate ones. Good: Jeffrey DeMunn as the sheriff who has the hots for the town's kindly restaurant owner, played with youthful elegance by Candy Clark (American Graffiti). Also good: Art LaFleur as the pharmacist and papa to heroine Shawnee Smith (merely adequate). Kevin Dillon swaggers like a James Dean wannabe but matures as the picture moves on and he becomes a likely and likeable hero. Joe Seneca as the mysterious doctor is surprisingly effective in a villainous role for a change, and Donovan Leitch in his little screen time evokes a rare mature teenager. The scene in the pharmacy where a friend of Leitch's purchases condoms is pretty funny. As for the horror scenes, they're good: the blob in the restaurant wherein the cook goes down the drain; the stampede in the movie theater when the blob takes center stage; and the finale with the snow machine. All well done and effective. Compared to a lot of really bad horror movies currently going straight to DVD, THE BLOB is a cut above the rest, and remember, there's always rooms for jello!!!