We have arrived at our destination, and the spookiest day of the year is finally here! To celebrate the day, I come to you with not one but TWO films in one post. What I have to offer is two versions of the same film. The Blob from 1958 and The Blob from 1988. First, I want to recognize that 30 years is an appropriate amount of time between a film and its remake. I think less time than that it gets a little redundant. Take the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon, a great film but did a remake need to be made just ten years after the original, I think not. Some more recent examples of films being remade too soon after the original, just look at two of Marvel Comics biggest superheroes. Spiderman and The Hulk, both of which had remakes made in five years time.
Now, I’m not counting the remakes that take a foreign movie and remakes it into an American film, i.e. The Ring and The Grudge. Two Japanese films made two and four years apart, respectively. Let’s talk about the first Blob, let’s call it Blob Sr. or better yet, let’s not. The original, from 1958 starred a young Steve McQueen (The Great Escape, Bullitt, and The Magnificent Seven) as Steve Andrews, a teenager living in rural Pennsylvania. Steve and his girlfriend Jane, played by Aneta Corsaut (Blazing Saddles and The Toolbox Murders) are parked at lovers’ lane when a meteor crashes nearby. While they are looking for where it landed an old man finds it and then pokes it with a stick. Well, what would you do?
Yeah, probably just about anything else, I’m with you on that one. After the old man breaks the meteor open a small jelly like substance attaches itself to the man’s arm. Eventually the jelly like substance devours the old man and then begins to squish itself all over the Pennsylvania town trying to take people out. I’ve been watching this since I was a kid, and I was never very frightened by it but I found it entertaining, nonetheless. Being McQueen’s first film, he’s not very polished (I mean his character’s name is Steve, so it’s either to make it easier for the actor or it’s just lazy film making) he as well as most of the actors’ performances are a little stiff and choppy. The effects are what they are for a mid-50’s film and the writing seems a little hurried.
One of the most ridiculous moments happens when Steve and Jane along with a bunch of other teens (McQueen was nearly 30 years old at the time) try to figure out what happened to the old man as well as what happened to the doctor who was treating the old man. Outside of the old man’s house they hear a dog barking. Steve (or maybe it’s one of the other ones, I don’t remember for sure) says something like “I think the barking is coming from the house”. The braininac they have with them named Moochie (a side note, if you’re watching a movie that was made or takes place in the 50’s and there is a character named Moochie, don’t expect him to be doing rocket science) “It doesn’t sound like a house, it sounds like a dog”. SMDH!
The Blob (1958) was filmed in eastern Pennsylvania, and you can still (I think you can anyway) go to Blobfest. This is a sort of convention held in Phoenixville, and it features many festivities celebrating The Blob. You can even go to the Colonial Theater and watch Daughter of Horror which is the same film that is playing at the theater in The Blob. They also have The Blob Run where you can run from the theater like they do in the film and check out more of the locations featured in the film. Something I’ve always wanted to partake of but alas still have not had the opportunity. The original film is a cheesy science fiction classic with a catchy opening theme song. It even ends on a little bit of a cliffhanger. Now, over the years my enjoyment of the film has waned just a bit, but I will still give it three air raid sirens out of five. I almost said three kaiju out of five but is the blob a legit kaiju? Maybe that’s a discussion for another day. Moving on!
Where in the original it took forever for the teenagers (at least Dillon was only around 21 here and not half way to retirement) to get the authorities to believe them, here only do they believe them quickly here, but there is also a massive response from government officials including the military. Also starring is Jeffrey DeMunn (The Green Mile and The Mist) as Sheriff Geller as well as Bill Moseley (Three From Hell and The Devil’s Rejects) in an early blink and you might miss him role as one of the featured soldiers. This blob origin is less alien species from space in nature and more, shall we say domestic. I liked that this dug a little deeper into the story and gave us a bit more, shall I say substance, to the creature.
The story goes very similarly to the original but the special effects here, even for the late 80s, seem so ahead of its time. Maybe they're not but compared to the first one, it’s apples and oranges. The acting is better here also (a little anyway) and not one person mistakes a dog barking for a house. The story is less innocent this time reflecting the state of mind in the world politically. Aw man, I almost forgot to mention what should be listed as another cast member and that is Kevin Dillon’s mullet. This thing is epic. I don’t know if that’s all his, I mean how can it be, it’s almost as big as the blob in some scenes. Damn, if I ever get to meet him at a monster convention I’m asking him about it. This time the film was not shot in Pennsylvania but rather Louisiana.
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