THE BLOB 1988: A Gruesomely Underrated Remake
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2023
- A look at 1988’s remake of The Blob, discussing the origins and shortcomings of the 1958 original, how the US and horror changed in the time between these two films, the incredible special effects behind Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont's movie, and why The Blob is one of the best 80s horror movies.
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What's your favorite horror remake?
The Fly 1986
The Thing 1980
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The Thing is the best but The Blob and Night of the Living Dead are tied for a close second.
Not my fav remake, but I loved the '03 Texas Chainsaw. Ermey made the film so much fun for me to watch.
BEEN SAYING THIS! This was the first movie to genuinely traumatize me. The scene of the kid getting eating by the Blob and trying to run out scarred me for years
Just the cover terrified me as a kid. I didn’t watch the movie until I was in college.
One of the first genuinely mean moments I can remember in a horror film. I’ve had the pleasure of introducing many people to it through the years
@@moshomaniac1 I watched it for the first time with my dad when I was like 9 or 10 lmfaoo It was a harrowing experience
Same and I made the mistake of catching this movie on TV as a four-year-old. 30 years ago
Same here… I remember watching this as a teenager, and when the kid feel in the water I figured that he would be okay… since they usually don’t kill off kids in movies… then he showed up half melted…. Yeah I don’t remember much about this movie, but whenever I talk about it, that scene come to mind.
What horrified me as a kid, watching The BLOB, The FLY, and the THING, was the feeling of tactile danger. The textures, the sounds, the practical effects made me feel like my television could dissolve or melt. The choice of victims and claustrophobia let me know that the Blob didn’t care if you were a child or an innocent animal. It would eat you no matter what and won’t stop.
This film deserves to be discussed along with Cronenberg's The Fly and Carpenter's The Thing as remakes that are superior to the originals and as examples of how you do a remake/reboot. So glad to see you giving the 88 Blob some much deserved love!
💯
And Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Agreed! Those films plus the '78 remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS are four fantastic remakes that are better in many ways than the original.
Agreed on 78 Body Snatchers! Incredible film!
Ah the holy trinity of 80s horror. The remakes done right.
This movie and Creepshow 2 made me realize how scary blob monsters are. People just get melted while clearly still being alive. What a way to go. There's also the fact that it's super strong too. That scene of the guy getting pulled into the sink is so scary. The Blob 88 is such a fun movie tbh.
100%... I am a grown man and i still shudder a little when i see an oil slick or a quiet lake because of "The Raft" 😅
Oh man. The raft from Creepshow 2 is awesome. So simple yet perfectly terrifying. My all time favorite out of all the Creepshow segments.
What about The Stuff?
Yeah, The Raft proper messed me up as a young teen - an ugly, horrible way to die. That coupled with the scenario itself: waiting, freezing, unable to rest or lose your concentration, just nasty innit!
The Raft absolutely scared the bejesus out of me. Imagine having your body forcefully pulled between the narrow spaces between planks of wood.
Fun fact: Shawnee Smith’s character was a big influence on Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I totally see. Meg is a badass and wicked underrated final girl.
That's a cool fun fact
Saw The Blob (1988) just after it hit VHS. I was eight. It frightened me so badly that I had nightmares for half a year at least. Also, I've never been able to re-watch it.
It did a number on you. You think you'll ever get around to rewatching it?
@@djthebigkor-ian8074 Highly unlikely.
@@NordriMediaArts Come on re watch it,...as an adult it's more funny and thrilling thab Scary!
Fuuuorget that shhhtuff. Saw it on cable as a kid, not good dreams. Dated a goth chick in high school and she rented it. She loved it but I let myself out for a smoke every 5 minutes or so, about a pack...
You know you were an 80s kid when you saw horror movies way too young.
The Blob is definitely a horror classic. The over-the-top way almost every character gets killed off, is the perfect balance of horrifying and hilarious. Super fun, entertaining movie.
Paul McCrane, who played the deputy, really had a rough time in the 80's. First in Robocop melting and exploding on the car then being eaten by the Blob.
…..not to mention that cancer eating freak in the X-Files, but worst of all, Montgomery in the ‘Fame’ series.
Don't forget him and the helicopter in "ER". Dude's made a career of horrifying times.
Thankfully, this is his last day on the job until retirement. He can finally quit the acting career and go home to his wife and kids. "It's all smooth sailing for ol Gil now!" @@kenyabrunson4985
@@zacetto I was going to make some FAME comment, too!
This movie is an absolute gem. Nightmare fuel if you saw it as a child.
I saw this in 1996 when I was 9 and never forgot about it. I was so traumatized.
To this DAY.
@@hawks9nkh Yeah, I'm in my 40s at this point and sometimes when i reach down into the drain to clear out a clog...
_"What if something is down there and it snacks on my hand?"_
@@snickle1980 I couldn't approach drains for weeks.
I first saw it when I was 8.
And that was a bad move.
It's up there with The Thing & The Fly remake. No one is safe in this film, including kids and a strawberry jam. The blob doesn't f around. Plus, you have likeable characters.
My dad showed me this as a kid and it TRAUMATIZED me for at least a month. Those melted faces just stuck in my mind.
I'm from the Philadelphia area and in Phoenixville where they made the original they have BLOBFEST every year in July. It's always a lot of fun, film screenings all day in the theatre from the first film. They screened the remake this year as the last movie of the fest. What a blast
I absolutely love this film. I just watched it yesterday. Thank you, it needs more attention. It deserves it space between the amazing 80's remakes of 50's classics, like The Thing, Body Snatchers and The Fly
I wished "Them" would have got that treatment
Well, "Them" didn't get that treatment in the 80s, but there is remake of it coming down the pike. Michael Giacchino, best known as film and TV composer, will direct and score his re-envisioned version for Warner Bros once the Hollywood strikes end. Giacchino has already broken out as a film director with the brilliant "Werewolf By Night" one-off, for Marvel/Disney+ last year and a wonderful "Star Trek: Short Treks" episode, titled "Ephraim and Dot" three years earlier. He's also directed several of his own original short films.
Invasion was 1978 and i don't really consider John Carpenter's The Thing to be a remake of The Thing from Another World since both are completely different films as i consider it less a remake of that movie and a more faithful adaptation of Who Goes There by John Campbell
I don't often run across people who get passionate over modern day remake attempts. Strike or no strike, I just can't find the old excitement for modern film due to the writing or lack thereof. Are things beginning to turn around, as far as mass appeal, or should i go back to sleep for another ten years? @@denniskristos3800
The Fly, The Thing, The Blob. Three of the greatest horror movies ever. All remakes. All massively improved on the originals. I call them the The trilogy 😁
I call Aliens, Predator, and The Terminator "The Triumvirate."
I put the Thing in the same universe with Allen's and Predator
I agree with this entire string of comments. That doesn't happen often.
Allens was a personal favorite of mine and absolutely deserves to be in the same universe. I prefer it over the original Allen from the late 70s.
Remember when Tim Allen jumped out of that guys chest and made the Tool Time sound? @@shadowstonar360
I just watched the 80s Blob for the first time with no prior context. Hell of a thing to watch on a whim
The Blob remake is top tier horror. It really is a great mix of action and horror
A great discussion on a truly great remake. Hearing your thoughts on the original made me think it'd be cool if you were to make a video that's essentially a retrospective on the 50s monster movies coming out in America ranging from Ray Harryhsusen to the Roger Corman rubber suits
Thanks! I've been thinking about how to tackle that era. I've thought about doing a dedicated Harryhausen video and a William Castle video
I had the chance to work with Chuck Russell a few years ago and had a blast talking to him about this. He really looks back on it fondly and loves talking about all the effects.
I saw this in the theaters upon its release and loved it, it's a shame that its so underrated and nearly forgotten because its really good.
SO GLAD that I'm not the only fan of this remake!! I got the Scream Factory special edition Blu Ray when it came it and the practical effects still hold up today.
This is one of my favourite horror films, excited to see someone else appreciates it!
First a retrospective on the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead, and now one for the 88 remake of The Blob. Mr. Draper, you sir are a man of continuing good taste!
This movie was on TV one evening when I was 9 years old and for some reason my mom let me watch it.
I was scarred from this movie. I had nightmares for like 2 weeks. All of the deaths were so gruesome and disturbing that I literally had trauma from this film. I still think about how disturbing some of the deaths were and I watched it in 1996! It popped into my psyche for 25+ years!
But now I realized that Drama from Entourage is a main character in the movie, so that's cool.
My mum and her best friend have talked up the blob movies forever, I think it was the first horror movies they actually saw so I’m happy to see someone talk about this movie in particular and give it the love it rightfully deserves
This is one of the films that pushed me into going into special FX makeup. So fucking good.
THANK YOU! Art needs to be viewed in the context of its time and appreciated for the progress it attempts regardless of our current moral standards. Remember that one day future generations will stand in judgement of YOU and you would like them to be as understanding as possible.
You,re so right. It’s as if this movie keeps being forgotten while it’s actually very well done.
This version is actually one of my favorites of all time.
I was writing, just for fun, a Re-remake of The Blob. In my case, it would be a series centered around a group of activists in a small town that discovers the blob after a meteor falls over there. There would also be a scientist who was a boy during the 1988 movie. From there until 2023, he studied the blob event (which was hidden by the government). He comes with the theory that this creature is actually a biological mass weapon designed by an alien civilization to get rid of a technologically uprising species (the humans). So the blob targets Homo sapiens, solely. There would be a lot of crazy deaths and action scenes, a lot of tension between the activist kids, the scientists, the town's authorities and the army. Obviously, I wrote this idea just for fun, no intention of ever getting it done.
Gotta say, seeing that high school kid in the hospital get melted when I was 12 years old is definitely an image that stuck with me for a long time.
The practical effects were awesome! I've seen this movie three or four times, which is a lot for me. I never understood why The Blob didn't get more love.
Great video, had no idea this movie underperformed at the time
. I recall in the late 80s there were just so many lower end teen brutal films that it easily could have been disregarded as just another in a huge pile of such gross-out movies. I think many weren't even reviewed by newspapers. Weird comparison: Bambi II is an awesome, fantastic Disney sequel, but since people are accustomed to horrible, tedious Disney sequels no adult seriously considers it.
You can really see what he difference between how terrifying the practical effects looked at the time versus CGI now. Even now it’s almost impossible to make CGI this seamless compared to practical effects.
So nice to see some appreciation for this gem. I have always loved this version of the blob
Great video on a great film. I’ve always felt like Darabont’s The Mist was the spiritual sequel to this film.
Horror movies that aren’t afraid to knock off kids will always rule the school. I felt the same watching Jaws, that poor little boy screaming as he’s eaten alive. Oh, so NO ONE is safe. 😰
I love this movie. It was literally the movie I sneak-watched on my Uncle's cable as a kid. I don't know if it's just me, but this movie and Dean Koontz's book "Phantoms" felt somewhat similar sometimes.
I think the Blob series might be the biggest (in terms of name recognition) where I haven’t seen single entry. I’ve always been aware and meaning to check it out, but just haven’t gotten around to it.
Love this time of year. As it means guaranteed Matt Draper bangers about horror films!
Also "Horror Express" is underrated.
The movie masterfully introduces character, some of them you even like, and then kills them off. Not only kills them but melts the FUCK out of them in absolutely stunning ways with practical special effects.
I've had a collector's edition of this sitting on my shelf for a year and a half. Just haven't prioritized watching it, now I know what I'm doing this weekend 👍
I stumbled upon this on cable as a child…still check high back corners of theaters when I enter
Good man.
This is my favorite monster movie. Always happy to see it getting some love.
Watch this movie for the first time today and this movie was superb. I knew nothing about it and I was just entertained throughout. Then your video got recommended as if its meant to be.
I love everything about this movie and I've watched it countless times over the years. This is a great video and I really like how you covered so much in such a short amount of time. Well done!
Great vid! This film is an all-time favorite of mine, and I appreciate all the love you have for it. Great breakdown, fun video. Keep it up!
I watched it on VHS back in the day -not knowing it was a remake- and I loved and felt truly horrified by it.
Great video essay, as usual.
Love that you covered this movie. At 31 I still have vivid memories of catching this on TV while staying over night at a relative's
Also, maybe I am biased, but I feel less cynical about horror remakes and reboots and sequels than I do about the same from other genres. I think that good stories stand on their own and, if done well enough, don't warrant a second look. But fear, and experiencing horror is universal and eternal. So I let it slide 😅
This movie had some of the best practical effects of that era. By the end of the 80s to early 90s practical effects reached its zenith. This film represents that period.
The blob was my initiation to horror movies when I was very little. I love this movie so much and it sucks that everyone just ignores it.
The original blob is an absolute classic, while this remake dosnt have the same charm its great in its own way by upping the horror and gore. The 80s was truly a great decade of these remakes of 50s horror.
1988 Blob is cinematic perfection. Everything is to the max. Actors - story - fx - music.... I love it!
Thanks for the amazing video Matt ❤
Great breakdown of a highly underrated horror film. The screenplay keeps the action moving, there are a few surprises and those effects.. WOW. I’m going to watch this with my niece who is 12 and big horror fan. She’s gonna love it !! Thanks and you have a new subscriber 🥳
I always try to comment about The Blob movie since it holds great memory to my childhood since it was back then in early 90s watching horror movies on Friday and Saturdays along with shows like Tales from the Crypt, Eerie Indiana, Unsolved Mysteries, America's Most Wanted and the whole TMNT craze we had back then and having The Blob be one of my most beloved memories from back then it doesn't bring me fear but joy to remember how creepy but awesome this movie was when i watched on TV at a Saturday when we had our BBQ weekends
I wanted to re watch this again before watching your video. Yeah the Blob 80s version is just a gem of a horror film, it just has it all, good characters, a fun story, the deaths are unforgiving nobody is safe like you say and the practical effects are amazing, honestly it's on the same level as the thing. You said you wanted a new version but you know The Faculty kind of reminds me of the blob, I mean I know that's more alien invasion but the setup is quite similar, I'm sure you'll talk about that movie some time. I also loved the song at the end brave new love, yeah that's how you top off a great 80's movie, you've got to have a rocking beat.
I was waiting to say, this film had a great soundtrack, too. Then you mentioned "Brave New Love" by Alien (who had a new album come out in 2020) and I was elated that someone finally mentioned it while discussing this movie.
Great retrospective. I just discovered your channel and love it!!!
Thank you for making this. This movie never gets enough love. I hold this as part of the trilogy of greatest horror remakes. Along with the mentioned The Fly and the Thing.
I wore the hell out the VHS in middle school. So underrated.
It's a fantastic film, and I love it, though I can see why 'The Blob' (1988) hasn't broken through in the same way that 'The Fly' and 'The Thing' have. The latter two have a cold seriousness that this doesn't. They also have a timeless quality that's hard to define without really getting deep into it, whereas 'The Blob' is very 80's ("Braaave new Loooooove!!!!", haha - I do dig this song though, it's cool). Finally, the special effects do not hold up in the same way as those two films: as you observe, the third act is particularly lacking in this way, and that sometimes draws titters instead of awe, or disgust.
Nonetheless, 'The Blob' absolutely deserves more love and appreciation from the horror crowd than it's currently receiving.
A great examination of this film Matt, thanks!
Fantastic video! This was fascinating
The blob, the fly, and JC thing are the trifecta of 80s remakes.
After watching the other great 80s body horror remake The Thing. Watching The Blob I came up with an interesting idea. What if the Government was observing everything happening on Antarctica regarding The Thing and as a result engineered The Blob as a bio weapon against it. We now need a monster mash The Thing vs The Blob.
I love both versions of THE BLOB! Matt you are on of those creators that I have the bell 🔔 notification on for 🤣 you don’t miss 🎯
First time I watched the original Blob was at a church sleepover. I didn't get any sleep that night after watching it. Years later I watched the remake and was blown away by the special effects. Today I plan to rewatch the remake
Ive been recommending this movie since the 90s. A true hidden gem. Glad it is getting its due lately.
I remember seeing the Blob as a kid, it was AWESOME
I watched this movie on your recommendation today, and I’m so glad I did. This is definitely going to be part of my horror rotation in Octobers to come.
1.The Thing, 2.The Fly, 3.The Blob - a superb trinity of 80s horror remakes!
I love the way you always provide contemporary context about these movies! This gives another level of insight, when watching!
I've seen both versions, but it has always been in my mind that the first story I've ever read about an all-consuming amoeba cam from those Wally Wood EC Weird Science or Incredible Science-fiction Stories... That would have been in the early 50's. 🤔
Kinda waiting for a “prince of darkness” from you. Feels like you’d do a fantastic analysis of that
It will happen!
I had the great pleasure of seeing this at the theater, and i have loved it ever since! I saw this on a double feature with 'Nightmare On Elm Street 4', and i was the only one in the entire theater! So i had a private showing of both films [no one else ever showed up that night] and i had a great time! The 1988 Blob has a very proud place in my horror movie collection and if you think about it, foretold the Covid pandemic. The Blob was a germ warfare experiment that was wiping out this entire small town [much like a pandemic] The government [keeping secrets] moves in and wants to isolate the town to prevent the Blob from escaping [sound familiar?] and in the end the Blob is defeated by people smarter than the government. I don't think a modern retelling would work unless they outright used the Covid analogy.
Great review and historical analysis of one of the best underrated flicks of all time. Well done
Literally had a nightmare about the blob last night. 43 yrs old and the blob still gives me nightmares.
LOVED this movie! Very mean-spirited and with WONDERFUL special effects! Absolutely STUPIDLY marketed at the end of August by its studio
Excellent video review you should cover more 50s sci Fi movies and well as the remakes of invasion of the body snatchers and village of the damned
I bought this on blu-ray recently and watched it with a friend. I watched it as a kid in the 80's I was obsessed with horror pretty young.
I first saw this movie when I was like 9 or 10 years old, in the early 90s. I was scared beyond belief 😂
Now it's one of my favorite movies, and I agree that it sucks that it hasn't gotten some more recognition.
This IS one HELL of a re-do .I watch it 2-3 times a year. GREAT FILM!
What I admired most is the little bit you mentioned about the blob being made by the government and that makes so much sense when you look at our lead and oh my God that's just crazy to realize cause if there was ever a movie that fit a kinda Lovecraftian kinda experience it was this because it genuinely felt like an out of this world threat especially when it goes out and crystallizes so to learn its real roots is just... I also thought what made it neat is how it establishes its a threat so early compared to other films where you kinda can imagine some kinda way out whereas this movie made it feel so unhinged and off the walls. Also totally forgot about the ending until now that would've been an amazing sequel tbh.
I wouldn't say this is underrated. It was always praised even back in the day, when it went on VHS. The production value is high, the effects still hold up, 35 years on. Is up there as one of the best remakes.
Yeah, cant say this is underrated. Every kid on the playground knew it was a banger back in the early 90s late 80s.
It made me so cautious of movie theaters for a while, i’d always look at the ceiling just in case 😂
Great video as always
It really pushed my expectations for both storytelling and special effects after I saw it for the first time around the early 90s, as I just tripped into my teenage years. To understand that the special effect of the presumed hero football player reaching for aid out of the gelatinous anomaly was one of the teams final effects for the movie, everything they had worked on until this point being refined and reworked until they had the realism down, truly sells that horror of the situation early into the film. Yes, the movie is known for the kids getting eaten in the sewer and that was and still is a genera pushing spectacle; but, my money for two of the most story driven events that really push this movie from B-movie and on into A- movie are the scene with the near-digested small-town cop, as we saw in the clip early in the review, one eye pulled from its' socket and the badge pressing against the glass mere moments before the booth is crushed; 'there is no escaping The Blob and nobody is coming to save you' is what that scene so smartly signals to the audience. The second scene is the reveal of the genesis of this ever hungry entity, in comparison to the 50-60s 'It came from beyond the stars' trope and anticipation The Blob and the writers really did a fantastic job of hitting fears of distrust in the government (especially where Cold War Era tactics where concerned) and the average persons distrust of science (a fear pulled straight from many a comic book villain origin story). One more scene to consider is that of the climax of the film where our two protagonists are saving the day but an issue arises and one of the heroes must save the other. Tension builds, we, the audience, have to wonder will they make it and... and... and Shawnee Smith's character gets her foot caught!!! Seriously, watch this scene (after the review, of course) and enjoy!
ua-cam.com/video/y6OEhNHC_P4/v-deo.html
I adore this film. I think it was the first horror/monster film I enjoyed as a child. I recall looking at the box art for the VHS and was captive by the hand rising out of the ooze.
The Blob 1988 is awesome. Great video!
This movie is so underrated. It's such a fun movie to watch with friends who have never seen it. Everyone has a good time. Oh, and The Blob takes out kids as well. Thumbs up for 80's horror.
I was terrified and yet mistified by it when I was a kid, never have rewatched it since but it has never left my mind
Thank you, Matt
Adroit, well-thought-out analysis. I always thought this film was vastly underrated. I still get nightmares thinking of being sucked into a kitchen drain pipe!
I don't care what anyone says. The original 58' version is a lot of fun. The special effects (while simple) were pretty groundbreaking at the time, the characters are charming, and it has a sense of community engagement (and bucolic nature) when confronting a known threat. Is it campy? Yes. Can it be slow at parts? Sure. But, that's kind of what I like about it. I like when a film takes its time to get to know the characters, build suspense, and create atmosphere. Again, not a perfect film by any stretch, but it's very enjoyable (imo).
The 88' remake is right up there with John Carpenter's _The Thing_ , and is definitely worthy of praise. They really pushed the envelope with the special effects, and its kills are unflinchingly brutal. A very underrated gem.
I love the 80s style music in your video. Great breakdown of The Blob. Have you coved The Fly remakes? 🤔
Watched this movie when I was 6/7 years old. Terrible mistake.
I was traumatized when the kid was devoured in the sewers. 😭
Same. I still look away when he pops back out of the water.
@@OrochiFlamez I distinctly remember thinking something along these lines: "a child can *die* in a movie now!? I don't wanna die! 🙈"
This has to be one of my all time favorite movies not just in horror but all time. I even had my own idea of what a sequel would be like.
This movie is the reason I was scared of automated car washes when I was a kid so many years ago. They all happened to use pink-colored brushes and rollers, and having only just seen the second half of the movie then with all the deaths as a kid, I was deathly afraid of the blob-like brushes breaking through our car windows & roof and eating us.
It’s funny now, but man, this brought back some odd memories.
I saw this movie and instantly fell in love. I’ve made two videos about The Blob with my own spin.
Saw this movie in theater and loved it! Growing up, seeing the original on late night horror host Friday night, loved it too, but not as much as the remake. I would like to see a retrospective on the “horror host” era. I was a huge fan of those. Cleveland was a great example of classic horror hosts! Thanks!
Aw man this along with The Gate was one of my favorite horror movies as a kid