Badmovies.org Forum

A little town in Colorado has a problem, and I don't mean the lack of tourists at the ski slopes.  We're talking about an all-consuming organism from (well, kinda) outer space!

They're squishy, alien, and hungry for tasty people!  The Blob and its cousins are the focus of the latest roundtable effort. 




Make sure to check out all of the reviews via the Supersoaker Page. (http://www.wtf-film.com/BLOB_FAMILY/index.html)

Fun little flick.  I am one of the few that actually prefers this over the original.

I paid to see this film 8 times in the theater.

Yes, I like this movie. :teddyr:

At last, a movie I've seen. Of course, that's never stopped me from commenting on a movie I haven't seen.

I never have been a fan of this one. I think one of the reasons, is the larger body count in the remake. Upping the body count, to my mind, doesn't make a film anymore enjoyable or anymore interesting.  Often, it has the opposite affect.

I will say this for the remake, maybe because it was made in a more cynical time, the remake comes across as being more cynical than the original. The law is only out there to stop you from having fun. Medicine is only in it for the money. Religion is a drunk. And it's all the government's fault.

I don't know if I liked it as much as the original, but I still did like it.  I do remember hearing that Dark Castle was supposed to do a remake, but I think they got enough death threats to figure out they shouldn't touch this one.

*Possible Spoiler alert*

I didn't think much of this film when I first saw it back in 99...I guess I was just p**sed that they let one of the kids get killed off for what I felt was no good reason, and I thought the ending was kind of stupid.  I thought it was very poorly acted too, but that's not a good reason to see these kinds of films, I've realized since then. 

Your review has made me think about giving it another chance though...I'm looking back now and remembering how it had some sweet kills, which have become an important factor in my choice of horror films these days. 

Just FYI, I'm a stickler for characters being named correctly, the reverend is named Reverend Meeker, the colonel is Colonel Hargis, and the "fodder boy" is named Eddie (although Fodder Boy is a much better name for him). :)

I like this movie because it's one of those films overflowing with actors I've seen in other stuff!

-Dr. Meddows is played by Joe Seneca, from A Time to Kill and Silverado
-Rev. Meeker is played by Del Close, from The Untouchables and Next of Kin
-Sheriff Geller is played by Jeffrey DeMunn, who's been in a lot of stuff but who I mostly know from The Green Mile
-Phil the theater projectionist is played by Frank Collison, from The Last Boy Scout and The Whole Ten Yards
-Meg's dad is played by Art LaFleur, who was Babe Ruth in The Sandlot
-Deputy Briggs is played by Paul McCrane, who I'm sure everyone remembers for his melty death in Robocop
-One of Meddows' men who winds up as blob-chow is played by Bill Mosely, from House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, and the 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead
-The doctor at the hospital is played by Jack Nance, from Eraserhead and Dune
-The usher who comes to check on Phil is played by Pons Maar, who was Saurod in Masters of the Universe

And it goes on. I had a grand time recognizing all these guys. Well, except for Pons Maar, since in Masters of the Universe he was in a snake-man mask and armor, but I recognized his name in the credits at least! :)

I liked this film a lot - it's good cheesy '80s fun.  I like it much better than the original, I couldn't relate to the characters at all in that one, I thought the acting was quite poor, and when that girl fell over the display of soup cans in the grocery store and was lying there helpless afterwards, oh good grief.

What I couldn't stand about this movie was the Liberal moral lessons mentioned by BoyScoutKevin and the fact that the cast was hamming it up, trying to act like charicters in a 50's drive-in movie.
There is another "Blob" movie, a sequal (Or so they say) to the origonal that is possibly even WORSE than this version!

Koosh, random factoid here:
Colonel Hargis from THE BLOB '88 shares the last name of a character named Chester Hargis in 1972's "Beware! The Blob." My review of that film is nearing completion and should be online tomorrow. (It would have been completed today if I didn't: Spend 3 hours mowing the lawn, another 3 watching the Giants get their first victory of the season, and didn't spend the remainder of my evening watching Jeff Dunham's latest stand up special on Comedy Central.) My apologies to Andrew and the gang for the delay.

I love this movie, easily 1 of the best remakes, along with Cronenberg's 'The Fly', Carpenter's 'The Thing' & the 1978 - 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.

I hope this one doesn't get remade again, as its great just the way it is, with the gruesome special effects.

You can go wrong with Kevin Dillon & his 80's mullet & the always adorable Shawnee Smith.  :)

I thought that was Kevin Dillon. I am a big Entourage fan, and it makes me smile to see Johnny Drama in the old days.

i liked it until the end, when the blob looked like a wad of chewed gum.  not very fearsome.  and the tired secret US experiment gone awry premise isn't nearly as fun as the original.

David

Well by that point the "it came from space, period" plot was itself pretty tired. So I give the remake credit for trying to give the Blob a somewhat more updated origin. It still comes from space, just with a little help from the army. And why knock the remake's Blob for looking like chewing gum when the original's looked like strawberry jam and/or ketchup half the time?

I like this version over the original to. I hated foot ball players in high school as well.  :thumbup:

Well the thing about Paul is, he isn't your typical jock. I thought he really came across as a likable guy.

Quote from: Torgo on September 21, 2007, 08:00:27 PM
Fun little flick.  I am one of the few that actually prefers this over the original.

You're not alone, Torgo. I, too, prefer this one. This movie has done the impossible: it made a pink glob of man-eating jello from outer space actually scary. Allow me to explain. The original blob was a slow-moving dunce who only ate anyone unfortunate enough to come in contact with it. In this movie, not only is the blob fast, it's also smart. Can you picture the original blob crawling up to the ceiling to drop onto an unsuspecting passerby? Or shoot out sticky tentacles like a frog's tongue? Or hide in a sink and pull some poor sucker into the drain in what may be the goriest, most unpleasant death imaginable? I sure can't.
Oh, and I'm never getting near a kitchen sink again.

I remember seeing this movie when I was really young I'm only 21 now but I love this movie.  The 50's through the 80's saw the best horror movies, even remakes were be good.  Now days my generation is stuck unoriginal teeny bopper trash.

No kidding! Movies these days just seem to crank out sleeze, T & A and CG. As if that's going to make up for lack of entertainment. Far too many movies these days just use lots of CGI to cover weak ideas. Take Riddick for instance. What's so good about it beyond that they poured a bunch of action scenes and CG? A character like Flagg was a misfit that found his moment. Riddick was a glorified criminal. In the model of a Hip Hop gangsta. Really he didn't display any worth while traits in Pitch Black. But then he's some sort of evil hero who saves the universe by Chronicles. I'm of the same opinion of the author Goodkind on such matters. Like: A=A. A society must have values.

Okay... The 1958 version was ALOT BETTER! So i have to say the movie not having the Actual Downingtown Diner and the actual Colonial Theater made the movie even worse. And movies like the blob should not be rated R.

Add me to the list of those who think that this version is better than the original.  That doensn't mean I think this version is great, just that the Steve McQueen version is horribly dull. 

A few more lessons learned:

If Matt Dillon had worn a mullet, he may have ended up like his less succesful brother Kevin.

Alien bacteria killed the dinosaurs.

In the sewers, motocross bikes aren't subject to the laws of gravity.

You can always tell the highest ranking member of a government biological containment squad because his helmet is the only one with a cool green backlight in certain key scenes.

The only thing I didn't enjoy about this movie was that Shawnee Smith's character, for all her advertising, kept getting mercilessly upstaged with Kevin Dillon's. Pretty sexist; the producers should have let her be more the heroine, since the whole damsel bit has been done to death.

Also, most of the supporting cast (save those with stylishly gooey death scenes) are dramatically squandered. You gotta ask yourself why Meg goes to all that trouble for her little brother; not only isn't he very brave, he's obnoxious to boot! Or hardly his sister's brother, at least. (Just try to imagine Tristar Pictures' previous horror outing, THE MONSTER SQUAD, if the kids were like Eddie Beckner and Kevin Penny! Maybe a decent satire, but that's it.) 

Quote from: Torgo on September 21, 2007, 08:00:27 PM
Fun little flick.  I am one of the few that actually prefers this over the original.

I agree, much better than the original and that's great too! This is one of my favourite movies.

I'm a big fan of the original and also the remake. Although the remake has much better FX...it's too bad they didn't have a sequel.

Used to get nightmares from this all the time in my youth ...

If anyone's curious: Abbeville, Louisiana, the place where this was filmed, looks almost exactly as it did 25 years ago. The theater's apparently closed down, and a walk down the alley beside it reveals that there isn't a manhole cover there in real life. Bummer.

I am not one for modern remakes these days, so much, but I thought the 1988 blob is an outstanding remake. Such a good film. I remember the first time I watched it I was a little upset with the new twist ending (won't spoil) as opposed to the original's "where it comes from' ending. But re-watching the remake again recetly, I totally loved the change to the ending this time around and 'got' why they changed it and how it's kind of a symbolic political message. Outstanding movie with amazing death scenes, not to mention.  :teddyr:

Favorite scene- General pulls the pins on both his hand grenades just before Blob slaps a pseudopod on him. Went with his boots on and guns empty.

The original is such a great movie that I was pretty p**sed when I first discovered there was a remake.  But this movie is a blast, I had to like it!  And to be honest I own this one, but not the original.

Quote from: Patient Zero on December 07, 2007, 08:14:54 PM

Quote from: Torgo on September 21, 2007, 08:00:27 PM
Fun little flick.  I am one of the few that actually prefers this over the original.

You're not alone, Torgo. I, too, prefer this one. This movie has done the impossible: it made a pink glob of man-eating jello from outer space actually scary. Allow me to explain. The original blob was a slow-moving dunce who only ate anyone unfortunate enough to come in contact with it. In this movie, not only is the blob fast, it's also smart. Can you picture the original blob crawling up to the ceiling to drop onto an unsuspecting passerby? Or shoot out sticky tentacles like a frog's tongue? Or hide in a sink and pull some poor sucker into the drain in what may be the goriest, most unpleasant death imaginable? I sure can't.
Oh, and I'm never getting near a kitchen sink again.

The original blob seemed quite willing to pursue people.

Quote from: Patrick Jackson on August 20, 2009, 06:56:19 PM
The only thing I didn't enjoy about this movie was that Shawnee Smith's character, for all her advertising, kept getting mercilessly upstaged with Kevin Dillon's. Pretty sexist; the producers should have let her be more the heroine, since the whole damsel bit has been done to death.

Also, most of the supporting cast (save those with stylishly gooey death scenes) are dramatically squandered. You gotta ask yourself why Meg goes to all that trouble for her little brother; not only isn't he very brave, he's obnoxious to boot! Or hardly his sister's brother, at least. (Just try to imagine Tristar Pictures' previous horror outing, THE MONSTER SQUAD, if the kids were like Eddie Beckner and Kevin Penny! Maybe a decent satire, but that's it.) 

I think shawnee was a good heroine. She was lightyears above most women in speielberg movies.

The interesting thing was the original blob was a commie surrogate.  Mindless red mass bent on
consuming everyone into itself.  We were  afraid of "duh commeez" in the 50's. Movie monsters represented our fears.

No one was afraid of "duh commeez" in the 80's.  So the blob became a US government experiment and the government was willing to let the town be eaten to keep it and keep it secret.  We we're more afraid of our own government in the 80's than "duh commeez".

Pre and post-Vietnam saw a big change in how Hollywood portrayed authority figures, especially the military.