The Blob

The Blob (1988) Dir. By Chuck Russell

My original intentions were actually to watch the original, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. My next acceptable move was to watch the remake. Just like the original, it had been over a decade since I last saw the movie. I enjoyed it back then, but I might view it a little differently now. That actually wasn’t the case. I viewed it as even better than the first time I watched it. The Blob (1988) is a great movie in so many ways, although in many ways, it owes all of it’s credit to Kevin Dillon’s hair. It should have got best supporting actor. Since I didn’t get to watch the original again yet, I’m not going to do any comparisons to it.

After watching a meteor crash down into the forest, a homeless guy travels to see what it was. What he finds is a purple goo that latches on to his hand. After consuming the rest of the man, the blob gets bigger and starts its path of destruction on the rest of the town. Only two kids, Brain Flagg (Kevin Dillon) and Meg Penny (Shawnee Smith) know about The Blob, but nobody will believe them. It is up to the to warn the whole town before the unstoppable Blob swallows them all.

With a Director like Chuck Russell, I remembered why I liked this movie in the first place. This is the same guy that brought us amazing movies like The Mask, Eraser, and Nightmare on Elm Street 3! His approach to directing is awkward, unorganized, and really, really works. Thanks to Chuck, we have an extremely good remake which essentially does fit into my rule- you can only remake movies that are 30 years old. If you watch this movie, you will understand why I say this had to be the inspiration for Ghostbusters II. The Blob must be the identical twin to the River of Ooze. The Blob is supposed to be an organism from outer space, but if you ask me it has Viggo written all over it. On a more serious note, this movie as all sorts of good things going for it. It has a strong storyline, the fear of the unknown, and the fear of the government. The acting is good enough to carry the story. There isn’t too much over acting, and I really appreciate that. The biggest downfall of The Blob is Paul McCrane, who always overacts. I can’t think of a time I have ever enjoyed watching the guy. From Robocop to The Shawshank Redemption to E.R., I have pretty much despised him. His most enjoyable moment came on the small screen. That was on E.R. when a helicopter crashed and happened to land directly on top of him as he was outside the building. That was an absolutely awesome ending to his character, which was an ass anyways, he always is. Paul’s portrayal of Deputy Bill Briggs wasn’t enough to bring the movie down.



The real winners of this film are the special effects people. They did an amazing job with the Blob and really made it extremely scary. The way it devours people is always awesome. It makes me want to watch the original even more. All parts of the movie put together like the actors are the glue. This movie is actually extremely good, and I still find it very entertaining.

Entertainment Value: 8 Stick Poking Hobos out of 10
Cinematic Value: 8 Stick Poking Hobos out of 10