In Theaters 38 Years Ago, the Most Underrated Horror Movie Remake of All Time Was Released (And Ended the Franchise)
Horror remakes don’t have to be bad. If done right, they can enhance their source material, allowing creatives to put a fresh spin on a familiar story. Just take for instance John Carpenter’s The Thing, a remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World. Carpenter’s remake worked because it wasn’t a simple recycling of the original; it took the foundation and built on it, transforming a classic B movie into a masterpiece of practical effects. 38 years ago, the late director Chuck Russell would reinvent another 1950s classic, and the result was one of the most underrated horror remakes to date.
Released in theaters on August 5th, 1988, The Blob is a remake of the 1958 film of the same name. Much like Carpenter’s The Thing, Chuck Russell’s remake acts as a gorier version of the original The Blob. This is most evident in the film’s use of body horror, which is still just as grotesque today. But unfortunately, while The Blob has gained a cult following over the years, no sequel has followed.
The Blob Reimagined a Classic Horror Movie
When you think of 1950s B movies, The Blob probably comes to mind. Directed by the late Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., The Blob has been a mainstay of drive-in theater horror since it released in ’58. The film focuses on a group of teens (amongst them a young Steve McQueen). When a meteor crashes in their small town, it unleashes a terrifying Blob monster, which proceeds to consume everything in its path — growing bigger the more it eats. It’s up to the teens to stop the Blob, even as no one believe them about the impending danger.
In many ways, a film like The Blob is the perfect choice for a remake, because it’s ripe for expansion. While the film has some great special effects for the time, the scenes which don’t contain the Blob often feel slow and tedious. Russell accommodates for this with his version, which begins much like the original: a meteorite crashing before a group of teens (here featuring actress Shawnee Smith of future Saw fame). What’s immediately different, however, is the sheer threat of the Blob itself. While the creature did consume people in the original, it’s nowhere near as gruesome as it here. In Russell’s film, the Blob literally dissolves its victims. It’s all shown in agonizing detail as well, including a scene where the Blob liquifies one of the teens, courtesy of makeup artist Tony Gardner.
It’s in this way The Blob is able to build on its source material, taking what worked from the 1958 original and expanding on it. This even means reimagining iconic scenes, such as the bit in which the Blob attacks the movie theater. Russell plays it all completely straight — mostly. Of course, there’s still an air of B movie camp to the film, but The Blob fully recognizes the terror of an amorphous blob, allowing for sequences that wouldn’t have flown back in the ’50s.
The Blob Remake Never Got a Sequel
It might be surprising to hear The Blob has a sequel. No, not the remake, but the 1958 version. That sequel was Beware! The Blob, released in 1972. Though the film is more a satirical parody than a true follow-up, its existence means The Blob technically is a franchise; a small franchise, but a franchise nonetheless.
Unfortunately, it has remained that way. Though the 1988 Blob got decent reviews, it bombed at the box office, earning $8 million on a $10 million budget. As a result, that film never received a sequel, which is extra disappointing considering The Blob teases one at the very end. Of course, you could say that’s not a bad thing. After all, if this is indeed the end of the short-lived Blob franchise, it’s a great way to go out. But if a sequel can deliver on what made Russell’s film an awesome remake, I say bring on more Blob.
