The Blob on DVD
Schlock Horror at its Gooiest
The 1988 remake of the old Steve McQueen vehicle ups the special
effects ante while paying homage (or is it ripping off?) to many other genre
flicks along the way.
Kevin Dillon is Brian Flagg , a juvenile delinquent about to become an
adult. A loner, he’s the one always blamed for trouble in the little town
in which the action is set.
Then a meteor lands, with a gooey substance inside. The first one to
see it, an old man, gets attacked and comes across Dillon and Meg Penny
(Shawnee Smith), his “eventually-to-be-girlfriend” with her current
beau (Donovan Leitch ). They take him to the hospital, but the Blob keeps
getting bigger and takes over the old man, killing him. Then it kills
Leitch’s character before oozing off in search of more victims.
The story’s pretty predictable, as are the characterizations, but
that’s okay. This is at heart a popcorn movie that doesn’t pretend to
ask a lot of the audience other than they simply turn off their brains for an
hour and a half and enjoy themselves.
Meanwhile, you’ll be treated to any number of clichés, from
the bad guy who’s good at heart (Dillon), the Sweet Young Thing (Smith),
the evil government agency, the brave (or is he whacko?) preacher. Yadda yadda
yadda .
The new version offers much better special effects than the 1950’s
original, not surprisingly. They’re reminiscent of John Carpenter’s
“The Thing” with a bit of David Cronenburg’s “The Fly”
thrown in for good measure – though they aren’t nearly as gross as
either of the other films. In fact, this movie’s “R” rating must
be due to its coarse language than anything else, because otherwise it’s a
pretty mild scarefest .
The performances are as good as you’d expect, or want, as are the
production values. The script is hackneyed, but appropriately so for this type
of flick.
The DVD is presented in anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible),
with Dolby Digital Surround audio. Video quality is good, and the audio is also
okay, though there’s little or no surround in evidence.
Extras include the trailers.
The Blob, from Columbia Tristar Home Video
95 min, anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital
2 channel surround
Starring Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch , Jeffrey DeMunn
, Candy Clark
Produced by Jack. H. Harris and Elliott Kastner
Written by Chuck Russell & Frank Darabont , Directed by Chuck
Russell
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