The Blob ** (1988, Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey De Munn, Candy Clark, Joe Seneca) – Classic Movie Review 6885

Director Chuck Russell’s 1988 remake of the 1958 horror picture The Blob is co-written by him and Frank Darabont, from a story by Irvine H Millgate, and stars Kevin Dillon as teen rebel Brian Flagg and Shawnee Smith as cheerleader Meg Penny.

It keeps the essentially jokey popcorn hokum flavour of the Steve McQueen original and adds a bit of Eighties ickiness and cynicism.

In Russell’s and Darabont’s screenplay, the all-consuming deadly Blob from another planet lands at a ski resort and starts to eat up the residents of the small town of Arbeville, Colorado.  The locals teens try to warn the townsfolk, but of course they don’t heed the warning.

The Blob is done with much enthusiasm and some modicum of verve, so midnight movie enthusiasts should find it quite amusing in its silly, tacky way.

The Blob is cheesy and none too horrific, but it is not too nasty either, though there are some fairly graphic death scenes. It has a UK 18 certificate and is R rated in the US for sequences of strong sci-fi/horror violence and gore, a brief scene of sensuality and strong language, with two uses of the F-word.

Blob creature effects designer and creator Lyle Conway’s trick work, and the other special effects, visual effects and stunts are fine in this $30 million B-movie.

The main cast are Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch Jr, Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark, Joe Seneca, Del Close, Paul McCrane, Sharon Spelman, Beau Billingslea, Art LaFleur, Robert Axelrod, Bill Moseley, Frank Collison, Ricky Paull Goldin and Billy Beck. The director has a cameo as Theater Patron.

The Blob is directed by Chuck Russell, runs 95 minutes, is a TriStar Pictures, Palisades California Inc film, is distributed by TriStar Pictures (US) and Rank (UK), is written by Chuck Russell and Frank Darabout, from the original 1958 screenplay by Theodore Simonson and Kate Phillips [Kay Linaker], from a story by Irvine H Millgate, is shot in Technicolor by Mark Irwin, is produced by Jack H Harris and Elliott Kastner, is scored by Michael Hoenig and is designed by Craig Stearns with special effects by Lyle Conway.

Chuck [Charles] Russell is the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Blob, The Mask, Eraser, Bless the Child (2000)  and The Scorpion King.

It was a box office disappointment. Costing $19,000,000, it grossed only $8,247,943 in the US.

In 2014, Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Expendables 2 film-maker Simon West was signed up to direct another remake but there is still no sign of it.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6885

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com