Le Blob

(70%) Along with "The fly", and "The thing", this is a member of a trio of fine remade 1950's B-movies that did a great job of recreating some pretty gross ideas by adding some 80's style gore, yet still keeping the basic premise, as well as maintaining some of the better ideas roughly the same. This is the lesser of the three movies, but the other two are fantastic, while this is just plain good. The plot is well told with enough time on the main characters, but not too much to ruin the pacing, and the effects are really well done throughout with great gore and creature based attacks. Overall though it's just a very entertaining movie to watch that I'd recommend to all horror fans.

This movie takes the classic made in 1957 and updates it with a modern tone and special effects. If you are unfamiliar with the plot; A meteor crashes to Earth, and contained within is a gelatinous creature with an insatiable appetite for humans. As it eats more and more people, it grows in both mass and red color. How do you stop a creature that is impervious to bullets? Beware the blob. Comparing apples to apples here, the original movie is like a Sunday drive with your grandparents, slow but ominous. The remake is more like a Grand Prix race with a driver on speed. What the different tempo and special effects could not do is vastly improve upon the original. If this was your first exposure to The Blob, I would say you would hate the 50's version. If you saw that one first, then you will like this movie, just not quite as much. All in all this is a great updating, but it lacks some of the heart.

One night, just outside of a quiet and small town, a bizarre meteor crashes. A man who goes to investigate finds a weird glop that jumps on his arm and puts him into a state of frenzy. Some young people take him to the hospital and we soon see that the weird substance has eaten most of him and it is still hungry...

The result is a very entertaining monster flick with a very unusual monster - an amorphous blob. After films like Alien, Predator, The Thing, and others thinking of a good monster idea can be tough. Even John Carpenter's well crafted The Thing is a remake, but that didn't stop the film from becoming one of his best due to a good visceral interpretation of the story. The same goes for this film - a remake of an old movie with a very visceral and gory style. Featuring top-notch aesthetic and even some obviously aged, but nonetheless fun, old computer effects it is more of a thorough re-imagination like The Thing was.

However, the film falls a bit on its face when it comes to creating suspense. Many scenes with the title monster are tense and the action good and the gore first-rate, but the connective scenes between them surprisingly lack in tension. With material ripe for an eerie atmosphere it is a shame to see this horror element not fully developed in the film. The result is a fun movie, but it could have been much better. Also the mad scientist/cold war element is a bit stale by today's standards.

But, overall it is a fun little flick featuring a truly merciless monster that gobbles up just about anyone (even kids!). Horror/sci-fi fans will definitely want to check this flick out. 7/10

Rated R: violence, horror images, and profanity

The Blob (1988) was a bloody and nasty update to the fifties "classic" horror/science fiction film THE BLOB. I actually prefer the remake (one of the few times you'll hear me say that) because it covered ground that the original failed to cover and the Blob looked meaner and nastier than the original pile of goo. Kevin Dillion stars as the reluctant hero. The story to the remake is very much the same (except for the expected eighties additions and themes). No hokey pokey stuff here folks. If you like the original then you probably wont enjoy this update. More horror than science fiction and the gore level is real high.

I hope they don't try and remake this movie again. I felt that once is enough. Kevin Dillion was enjoyable as the rapscallion who does good and Shawnee Smith is in hot mode, Bill Mosley, Donavan Leitch, Art La Fleur and Candy Clark co-star as well.

Recommended.

Usually, when they attempt a remake of a classic sci-fi/horror flick, they bungle it beyond redemption. "The Blob" is actually a pretty good remake, elaborating the original's story. In this case, the protagonist - aside from the title character - is punk Brian Flagg (Kevin Dillon). The movie's strength comes from the intrigue that it portrays.

Needless to say, now that the censorship laws had eased, they were able to add in some more things. I'll never forget the sink scene (as I call it). And, as I understand it, Donovan starred in this movie (or was it someone else with the name Donovan Leitch?). Oh well, the point is that they eked out a good movie with this remake.