The Blob (1988) ***1/2
The Blob (1988) has a mean streak that I'm not typically a fan of, where everyone is disposable, and the filmmakers really seem to delight in killing people off in innovative ways, but when the f/x work is as good as it is here, it doesn't bother me too much. The tone is just a bit weird, when characters that you're supposed to care for die horrible, particularly cruel deaths. I do appreciate the killing off of the character that you think is going to be the male lead less than a half hour in (à la Psycho (1960)) though.
A lot of the f/x appear to be homages to setups from John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) (my review here), including a few gags that are straight up rip-offs of Rob Bottin's work from that most perfect of perfect horror films. There are also some shots that are reminiscent of 1987's Street Trash (my review here) which is enough to melt a grue lover's heart (literally). But it's hard not to love practical f/x and makeup in horror films, particularly '80s ones. And it's impossible to keep your eyes off of Kevin Dillon's incredible mullet, try as you may.
As far as '80s remakes of '50s b-movie horror films go, The Blob isn't on par with The Thing or The Fly, containing neither the sense of dread prevalent in the former or the pathos of the latter, but it's still a fun, wild ride and has solid replay value. It's got a great end credits song too, maybe not the earworm that is the original The Blob's (1958) theme song, and not quite as good as Dokken's "Dream Warriors" (as far as hair metal songs from horror films directed by Chuck Russell and written by Frank Darabont go), but catchy nonetheless.
A lot of the f/x appear to be homages to setups from John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) (my review here), including a few gags that are straight up rip-offs of Rob Bottin's work from that most perfect of perfect horror films. There are also some shots that are reminiscent of 1987's Street Trash (my review here) which is enough to melt a grue lover's heart (literally). But it's hard not to love practical f/x and makeup in horror films, particularly '80s ones. And it's impossible to keep your eyes off of Kevin Dillon's incredible mullet, try as you may.
As far as '80s remakes of '50s b-movie horror films go, The Blob isn't on par with The Thing or The Fly, containing neither the sense of dread prevalent in the former or the pathos of the latter, but it's still a fun, wild ride and has solid replay value. It's got a great end credits song too, maybe not the earworm that is the original The Blob's (1958) theme song, and not quite as good as Dokken's "Dream Warriors" (as far as hair metal songs from horror films directed by Chuck Russell and written by Frank Darabont go), but catchy nonetheless.
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