THE BLOB (1988 Version)

At first, I didn't want to watch this one. I've seen the original and, call me crazy, but something about deadly jello just doesn't scare me. Plus, it’s called The Blob.  I mean, the word just makes me laugh – so any movie with that title can’t be scary, can it? Well, I was wrong. This movie succeeds because it has something very few of the other films I've reviewed has had: a budget.

The plot of THE BLOB is simple enough to follow. It's a small town, every-day American town in rural California (as regular readers will know, one of my favorite stereotypes of bad horror films). Out of the sky comes a meteorite containing an evil alien substance known to us as…I think you’ve figured it out.  Anyhow, now that I've patronized my readers, I'll continue.  Through various chains of events, the blob spreads until it grows and takes on a life of its own, killing and destroying everything in its path.  I am a fan of straightforward plots, and this certainly succeeds on that count.

What the blob didn't count on were a couple of teenage heroes, of course.   They were the first to encounter the blob, but did anyone believe them?   Noooooo.   Among these heroes is Kevin Dillon – a guy I have a tough time seeing as anything but Johnny Drama from ENTOURAGE.  And what makes this perfect is that a role in a B-horror movie is exactly the type Johnny Drama would take.   Here Dillon plays the ne’er-do-well bad kid of the town.  How do we know?  Because he wears a leather jacket and rides a motorcycle, that’s how.  Anyhow, Dillon teams up with cute teen Shawnee Smith and through their ingenuity and teenage savoir-faire, these two work to defeat the blob.

I had a great time watching THE BLOB. It was a remake of a typical 50s horror movie which ended up being...a typical 50s horror movie. It reveled in its stereotypes and satirized them as well. This was especially true when two kids are sitting in a horror movie watching a typical slice-and-dice film...a horror cliché within a horror cliché, oh so cunning.

Of course there's some bad acting and the Shawnee Smith just doesn't get me rooting for her enough, but the special effects were actually quite outstanding.  If there’s one thing that truly distinguishes a horror movie is an innovative method of killing.  There are some nice gory effects including two classics: one in which the blob actually sucks an entire man down a sink drain, and another in which a woman is surrounded by the blob in a phone booth only to be...well, you'll see.

THE BLOB is not a great film, but it definitely is entertaining.  Complete with good effects and gore, and a great final scene which ends the movie on just the right note, THE BLOB of the 90s far outdoes THE BLOB of the 50s and is tons of fun.

RATING: *** (out of a possible 4)