The Blob (1988 film)

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The Blob

Promotional film poster
Directed by Chuck Russell
Produced by Jack H. Harris
Elliott Kastner
Written by Irving H. Millgate (story)
Theodore Simonson and
Kay Linaker (1958 screenplay)
Chuck Russell &
Frank Darabont (screenplay)
Starring Kevin Dillon
Shawnee Smith
Donovan Leitch
Jeffrey DeMunn
Candy Clark
Joe Seneca
Music by Michael Hoenig
Cinematography Mark Irwin
Editing by Tod Feuerman
Terry Stokes
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release date(s) August 5, 1988 (USA)
Running time 95 min.
Country U.S.
Language English
Budget $9,000,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue $8,247,943 (USA)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Blob is a 1988 horror film distributed by Tristar Pictures. It is a remake of the 1958 film The Blob, which starred Steve McQueen. Directed by Chuck Russell. Screenplay by Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont. 95 minutes, rated R. The film was shot in Abbeville, Louisiana.

Contents

[edit] Plot

A small meteorite falls to earth near the town of Arborville, Colorado. An elderly transient discovers, within the hollow sphere, a bizarre, jelly-like substance (the Blob) which attaches itself to his hand. Three high-schoolers, loner Brian Flagg (Dillon), cheerleader Meg Penny (Smith) and her footballer-date Paul (Leitch) encounter the fleeing man and take him to a local hospital. After Brian leaves, Meg witnesses the transient, a doctor and Paul all being consumed by the ever-growing Blob which then oozes out of the hospital and enters the town sewer system.

After both Brian and Meg have unsatisfactory encounters with the police, they meet in the town diner where she tells him about the Blob. His disbelief is shattered when they see the diner's handyman sucked down a sink-drain by the Blob. It chases them into the diner's walk-in freezer where, for some reason, it retreats. After eating the diner's owner and the town's sheriff, the organism reenters the sewers.

Meg and Brian go to the police station, where the dispatcher tells them deputy Briggs (McCrane) is near the meteor-landing site. They go and discover a military operation led by a scientist, Dr. Meddows (Seneca), who orders the town placed under quarantine. Brian escapes from a military van and goes to collect his motorbike.

Meg is taken back to town where she learns her little brother Kevin is missing. Meg finds him and his friend Eddie at the theatre. She rescues the two from amidst a blob rampage.

After picking up his bike Brian eavesdrops on the ecstatic Meddows and learns that the creature is a biological warfare experiment. He also learns Meg and two boys are in the sewers and Meddows is willing to let them die to contain the creature. Brian drives his motorcycle into the sewer system.

Down below, Meg, Kevin, and Eddie are still fleeing from the monster. Kevin escapes to the surface through a grate while Eddie is pulled under and devoured. Meg is saved by Brian.

Brian confronts Meddows in front of the townsfolk and Briggs. The scientist attempts to shoot Brian, but the Blob snatches Meddows and drags him to his death. The remaining soldiers throw an explosive charge down into the sewer; but, this does nothing more than anger the creature which bursts onto the surface and begins to feast upon the assembled population of the town. The town's Reverend Meeker (Close) is proclaiming the scene to be the prophesied end of the world, when a failed flamethrower attack on the Blob sets him ablaze. Meg saves him with a fire extinguisher, and in the process blasts the Blob with the extinguisher. The thing backs off, and she realizes why it didn't come into the freezer: it can't stand cold.

The surviving humans retreat to town hall and hold the Blob at bay with furniture-barricades and fire extinguishers, but it is a losing battle; Briggs is among the casualties. Brian goes to the town's garage and gets a snow maker truck that has two canisters of liquid nitrogen attached to it. He drives to town hall and shoots snow at the creature, but it knocks the truck over. After helping Brian get clear, Meg takes an explosive charge from a dead soldier and blows up the canisters, covering the Blob with the liquid nitrogen. The creature is flash-frozen, and is hauled away to the town icehouse.

The film cuts to a tent-meeting in a field, where Meeker, injured and crazed, preaches a doomsday sermon to an enthralled congregation. Asked when the time of reckoning will come, he replies "soon" and holds up a glass jar containing a fragment of the Blob.

[edit] Taglines

  • If it had a mind, you could reason with it. If it had a face, you could look it in the eye. And if it had a body, you could shoot it...Terror has no shape. (from theatrical trailer)
  • On his 30th birthday, he's back...Bigger, faster, hungrier, meaner and deadlier than before...Guess he'll have his cake and eat it too. (from the film's press kit)
  • Scream now while you can still breathe! (from the DVD)

[edit] Cast

[edit] Reception

Generally, this film has received many mixed reviews. Most are negative comments merely from fans of the original film, due to the movie's changes, most notably being the Blob's new origin as a government experiment gone horribly wrong, and not just a monster from outer space. The film was also criticized for all the sub-plots introduced into it, such as the government's involvement and other notable examples. It was also argued that the new Blob resembled little to the original monster. All negative comments aside, the movie has received many good reviews, due to its gore, action sequences, plot and special effects.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Shawnee Smith (Meg Penny) was once asked whether the producers remembered to heat the sewer-water she had to wallow through while eluding the title aberration. With a grin, Smith answered, "Well, they tried."
  • Ten years after this movie's release, it was "homaged" (read: lampooned) on The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show. Keenen treated guest Shawnee Smith to a short parody-film he had made for her: The Fro. It dealt with a huge, carnivorous sentient Afro-wig that is finally incapacitated when Keenen's character (clearly filling Meg Penny's shoes) douses it with Jheri curl. Smith was delighted by all of this.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Blob
The original movies:
The Blob (1958) • Beware! The Blob (1972)
The new movie:
The Blob (1988)