The Blob (1988)

Dr. Meddows: I want that organism alive.
White Suit #1: What about the civilians?
Dr. Meddows: They're expendable.

Director: Chuck Russell
Producer:  Andre Blay, Jack H. Harris, Rupert Harvey, Elliott Kastner
Main Cast:  Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch Jr., Jeffrey DeMunn
Runtime:  95 minutes

Released almost exactly 30 years after the original, it is not hard to believe that special effects have come so far.  No fancy CGI here, just good ol fashioned practical effects which are very believable and just proves that you don’t need CGI to make some spectacular effects.  Aside from the effects it’s a pretty general sort of movie that is faithful to the original.  It is also interesting to note that one of the Producers, Jack H. Harris, also produced the 1958 original.

A meteorite crashes to earth and is first discovered by an old man who lives along in the forest.  As he looks at the matter in the meteorite the substance attaches itself to the man.  As he tries to get away from the crash site he stumbles into Brian (Kevin Dillon) and is then chased by Brian onto a main road nearby where he gets hit by a car being driven by Paul (Donovan Leitch Jr.) and Meg (Shawnee Smith), who then proceed to take the man to the doctors along with Brian as a witness to the accident.  From there the blob begins to spread and infiltrates a good portion of the town absorbing people on the way and causing havoc.  As Brian and Meg go back to the meteorite site they are found by what appears to be government officials who hopefully have come to save the town from this thing.  But not all is as it seems.  Something sinister is happening and something needs to be done to save the town folk.

The standout feature of this film is the special effects which quite frankly are fantastic, reminiscent of the practical effects in the 1982 movie The Thing.  The story is quite tight and keeps moving with little chance to catch your breath but sadly it seems that the acting is not able to keep up and some parts of the film can be a little cheesy.  The first half of the film gets you in but the second half seems to drop off a little.  But overall it is quite good, though not great.  There is no nudity but a reasonable amount of swearing.

The Bluray reviewed is the great Limited (only 2000 copies) edition but it is also available on a standalone Bluray which has the same extras as the Limited edition.  The Limited edition (minus extras) comes on two Blurays and they contain:

• The Blob (1958) in HD
• Son of Blob (1972) in SD
• The Blob (1988) in HD

The only other Bluray release of the 1988 film was by Twilight Time in the U.S. and was limited to 5000 copies and has sold out with remaining copies fetching as much as USD80, so if you want the Bluray of this film the Aussie release is well worth it (though the Twilight Time edition had a few more extras).

The image quality in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio is fantastic with nice clear and sharp video with good contrast and colour.  There is only one section of the film that seemed to have some damage to it but it only goes for a few seconds.  The rest of it is simply great.  The audio is equally nice and comes to us via 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio that more than adequately covers the spectrum of sound and vocals are clear and precise.

The Bluray comes with the following extras:

• Directing the Blob, interview with Director Chuck Russell
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall it is a good film that lives up to the original and takes it further in the special effects department.  The biggest let down would be good solid acting from the main characters but it still comes across quite well however you can get much better sci-fi from the 80’s such as The Thing (1982), Blade Runner (1982), The Fly (1986), Predator (1986), The Abyss (1989) just to name a few all of which are superior in the direction and acting department.  If you are going to buy the movie, I would certainly suggest the few extra bucks to get the Limited Edition reviewed here (only available via JB Hifi), but the standalone Bluray is essentially the same disc but you miss out on the original 1958 version and of course an SD version of the 1972 Son of Blob.  

The movie is recommended for fans of the film specifically or in the genre.  I don’t believe it’s a classic as such apart from the great effects but it’s far from a bad movie.  If you enjoy The Blob films it’s a no brainer but for those wanting to explore 80’s sci-fi you can do better elsewhere.

Movie  
Image        
Disc