The Blob hit Blu-ray in a limited edition release from Twilight Time on Oct. 14th
I’ve never had an active disinterest in The Blob, per se, but I certainly never placed a high priority on seeing it. I don’t remember a time in my life where I wasn’t aware that there is an older film starring Steve McQueen called The Blob, or that there was a remake in the 1980s. The Blob, if I’m honest, always sounded like B-sci-fi. You know, like Them!… about giant killer ants. I could go the rest of my life knowing that hundreds of giant monster movies from the 1950s exist, and get joy out of that knowledge, but never quite feel compelled to put them on the top of my viewing queue. But when Twilight Time announced that they would be upping their normal amount of limited edition copies from 3000 to 5000 specifically for their Blu-ray release of The Blob (1988), I took notice. Were people really that into The Blob? And if so… why?
As it turns out, The Blob is jaw-drop cinema. More akin to John Carpenter’s The Thing than the 1950s B-monster movies it was spawned from, The Blob features practical make-up effects and clever kills enough to make any horror fan giddy. Add to that a screenplay co-written by director Chuck Russell (NOES 3: Dream Warriors, The Mask) and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Walking Dead), which deftly interweaves pure visceral horror, hilarious laughs, and rewarding character moments on top of biting societal commentary and surprising twists and turns, and the whole thing feels like a master class in balancing disparate tones wonderfully. I’m going to guess that a young Edgar Wright took a fair amount of inspiration from The Blob as his style of horror/comedy in Shaun Of The Dead is probably the closest I can think of to compare this to. As a for instance, there is an entire comedy scene revolving around some high school boys trying to buy condoms at the local pharmacy, which pays off in one of the funniest reveals I’ve seen in a long time (“ribbed”) a full 10 or 15 minutes later in the film. Call me ignorant (I was), but I didn’t expect Edgar Wright-ian levels of complex humor from a movie called The Blob.
This movie has been out there just lurking, waiting for me to take it in in order to realize that it features some of the all time greatest kills in horror movie history. The practical gore effects go a long way to make these kills simply stunning. The special effects team concocted a genuinely terrifying blob (something I didn’t think possible), a sentient creature with frightening capabilities, and then realized that creature with such glorious effects ingenuity that I found myself uncontrollably smiling and literally dropping my jaw repeatedly with each appearance. Over and over again the way the blob is represented on screen is impressive, creative, pleasing, and largely holds up today in high definition as well. Using a combination of such old fashioned brilliance as simply filming sideways so that ooze and goo can appear to “reach” when it is in fact simply falling, and then-cutting-edge composition shots, Chuck Russell and his team crafted an iconic monster that dispatches its well-written characters with wanton abandon.
And that “well written” part can’t be overstated. Russell and Darabont’s screenplay isn’t just hilarious… it doesn’t just create the space for some of the greatest kills of all time… it also actually takes time to flesh out and build up its three leads: Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, and Kevin Dillon’s mullet. Their relationship develops organically, and their interactions with the rest of the small town who are experiencing this attack allow for Darabont and Russell to poke some barbs at the government, make observations about life in a small town, and also ultimately excite the audience with a fairly rousing, action-packed finale that viewers are compelled to care about because our heroes and villains are so well established. Every set up is paid off, every douchebag has his day, and by the time the final credits rolled I knew I had a new film to add to the annals of all time great horror cinema.
The Package
Once again, due to Cinapse’s ability to cover Twilight Time releases, I’ve had the opportunity I covet most in cinematic exploration: Unearthing a genuine treasure. I went from not caring about The Blob, to realizing its cult following through the anticipation surrounding this release, to adding a new all time favorite to my horror repertoire. And this release is worth all the hoopla and all the extra copies pressed by Twilight Time.
I’ve already mentioned how stunning the practical effects work was, but the whole film is wonderfully shot (by Mark Irwin) and looks great here in this release. You also get a commentary track featuring film critic Ryan Turek interviewing writer/director Chuck Russell. The track will possibly endear you to Russell even more than the movie itself does. Here’s a man who has brought enough cinematic joy to our lives just from his Nightmare On Elm Street entry (which many consider to be the best in the series) to be considered a hero, and then realize through the commentary that he is also humble, self-aware, and tells pretty great anecdotes about the production of this film. I listened all the way through and felt that the one-two punch of the incredible film and the entertaining commentary made this an absolute must-own Blu-ray.
On top of the film and commentary track, you also get Twilight Time’s standard features of an excellent and insightful liner-essay from Julie Kirgo, and the isolated score track, as well as a Q & A featurette featuring Russell and Turek at a repertory screening of the film.
The Blob isn’t just a shining example of 1980s horror, but one of the most purely entertaining films ever to come out of that entire genre. I’ll need a few years to process The Blob’s proper status in the horror hall of fame (and I guess now I’ll finally need to get around to seeing that original film) but it is a contender among the all time greats.
And I’m Out.