The Blob (1988)

Plot Outline: A meteor crashes to Earth housing a strange alien blob which consumes human beings for food and grows in size to enormous proportions. It's up to a rebellious teenager and his cheerleading girlfriend to save the day.

The Review: This is a real breath of fresh air as far as remakes go - this one is far superior to the original. That was a campy 50s science fiction with not-so-great effects and a basic sense of "give me a break." Instead of going for the same style of camp, this one goes all out for the visceral horror aspect akin to John Carpenter's remake of The Thing. It works a lot better with this more serious tone and although there are moments of humour, this is no laughing matter. One of the problems of the original was the actual blob itself. What it did to it's victims was only suggested or glimpsed in a few rather silly moments. Here the blob is given a hell of a lot more screen time which means we get to see what it actually does. The special effects for the blob look good and although some shots have dated badly (spot the blue screen moments), the blob still oozes and drips its way menacingly across the screen. You don't get the sense that this is some strawberry jam monster - it's a nasty, relentless killing machine. The gore is also excellent. People get disintegrated and dissolved by the blob, especially a really cool moment when the blob falls on top of someone on the phone. There are some other really memorable moments including some poor schmuck getting sucked down the sink and a woman being trapped inside a phone box. If you've got a weak stomach, it'd be best to give this one a miss as even I was shocked at how gruesome it got. The cast isn't bad but it's a really 80s looking crowd and most of these characters would fit into an 80s slasher with no problem. A lot of them don't make it out alive and I was really surprised when some of the cast got it. Even little kids aren't safe in this one! The only major problem I had with the film is that it got a little silly once the government got involved and explanations were given as to what the blob was. Can't we just believe that it's an alien from space and not some man-made monster? 

Final Verdict: The Blob is without a doubt one of the best horror films to come out of the slasher-soaked 80s. It basically runs like your typical slasher with the blob as the Jason/Freddy character. But at least this one has scares and surprises galore.

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