Halloween

The Greatest Horror Movie Moments!
by: -RoG-

The Blob

While the 1958 version of The Blob brought the fantastic concept to the big screen, it was the 1988 remake that really did justice to the relentless Jell-O treat from hell. Then again, when you consider the people who worked on the project, it's not too surprising that it turned out to be a pretty solid (ok, bad choice of words) horror flick. Chuck Russell, who directed the film and was one of the co-writers, also wrote and directed A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors, which is a favorite among many Freddy fans. The other writer of this remake was Frank Darabont, who later went on to make a little film you may have heard of called The Shawshank Redemption. Ok, so he obviously came a long way, but still... there was some real talent involved with this film.

Shawnee Smith and Kevin Dillon. Sorry Shawnee, but Kevin clearly has the better hair here.

There are some familiar faces in this remake as well. Fans of the Saw franchise will immediately recognize Shawnee Smith as the leading lady of the film, Meg Penny. And then, of course, there's Kevin Dillon starring in the classic rebel without a clue role as Brian Flagg. Oh yes, he's got the leather jacket, the motorcycle and the hair. Oh the hair! Kevin Dillon has such perfectly poofed out hair that it would've even made Farah Fawcett feel self-conscious back in the seventies. His hair alone could probably be ranked as one of the greatest things in horror movie history.

But we're not here to talk about his hair, so let's get right down to business.

Somebody call a plumber!

So cut to later in the film in a restaurant where Meg, Brian and a waitress have just watched the cook get sucked down the drain in the kitchen sink. You see, the sink was clogged (by the blob) and he took it upon himself to try using a plunger on it. The blob obviously didn't like that, so it grabbed the cook by the face and pulled him on in as blood 'n guts splattered everywhere. The lesson we learned here is simple: When the blob is in your pipes, forget the Drano, forget the plunger... just get the hell outta Dodge, pronto!

Run, Forrest, Run!

While the waitress makes it out to the alley, Meg and Brian make a run for it down the hallways towards the freezer as the blob sludges along the ceiling in hot pursuit. This is definitely one of the moments in the movie where the green-screening is highly evident, but damned if I don't absolutely love it.

Can you hear me now?

While the other two lock themselves in a freezer (blobs hate the cold), the waitress makes it to a phone booth out in the alley. She tries calling for help but soon the phone dies out as the blob engulfs the entire booth. Soon she finds herself trapped in this tight little space and there's absolutely no hope of her escaping. But rather than just killing her quickly, the blob oozes around the booth for a bit and you get some great shots both of her freaking out and some of the victims inside the blob which haven't been completely dissolved yet.

Well all good things must come to and end, so the blob decides to crash her little phonebooth party by squeezing its way in through the cracks. Soon the glass shatters and the blob completely floods the phone booth all at once and it looks pretty damned violent when it happens:

The Blob just wanted a hug. :(

Something about the fantastically claustrophobic nature of this scene coupled with the brutal conclusion always made it one of the more memorable deaths in horror history for me. And when you consider just how memorable many of the deaths in this remake were — such as the date rapist getting more than he bargained for when he copped a feel, Meg's boyfriend being covered by the blob and losing his arm in her hands, or an entire movie theater being attacked by the blob — that's saying a lot.

On a final note, a few years back I actually teamed up with Mike (Kryten Syxx) over at Dread Central for one of his Splattrax installments in which we provided audio commentary for the blog. If you happen to own the DVD, be sure to go download our Splattrax commentary. It's just like inviting us into your home to watch a cheesy horror flick with you, only better, because this way I won't eat all of your Halloween candy and leave you for dead. Well... maybe.

Have any questions or comments about this piece?
Email -RoG-

 

Reader Comments

aint nobody
Sep 28th, 2009, 06:48 AM
and Rob Zombie has the balls to remake this after what he's done to Halloween,and sans the actual blob no less? tsk tsk.
guess his blob will be a morbidly obese redneck wielding a shotgun who drops about a thousand f bombs.
WHAT'S THIS?!
Sep 28th, 2009, 08:47 AM
One of these days, I'd like to see the cheesy 70s blob movie reviewed.
Cogito Ergo Moo
Sep 28th, 2009, 09:33 AM
Cheesy!?!? No movie with Steve "the King" McQueen could ever be called "Cheesy"

Good day, sir!

Tim
SKATASTIC
Sep 28th, 2009, 10:57 AM
Heard they(Hollywood) were going to remake "The Blob" again in the next few years. I think they need to remake "The Stuff" first if they know whats good for them.

"NOTHING CAN STOP THE BLOB"
Sloth, PhD
Sep 28th, 2009, 11:03 AM
"The Blob" and "The Thing" have always been two of my favorites. Aliens that aren't just people in a shaved gorilla suit? Yes, please!
Commarade General
Sep 28th, 2009, 11:31 AM
Interesting death. Maybe I'll pick this up on my local Blockbuster.

Quote:
It's just like inviting us into your home to watch a cheesy horror flick with you, only better, because this way I won't eat all of your Halloween candy and leave your for dead
I would love to have any of you -RoG, Protoclown, Dr. Boogie or Max- in my house to see a bad movie. And believe me, with the amount of candy my family has, the one that would have to fear for his life would be you.

-Commanderraf
I am Johnny Luchador
Sep 28th, 2009, 12:55 PM
I love how she is trying to call for help, and the Sheriff is all in the blob like, OH HAI!
Another thing I've noticed lately of watching old horror flicks in preparing for halloween is that there is always one guy in the movies with that hair-do.
Butt Wipe
Sep 28th, 2009, 01:09 PM
I thought the moment was going to be the main girl's little brother's friend getting devoured by the blob in the sewer. Any film that has children getting dissolved by blobs is all right by me.
Ringmonster
Sep 28th, 2009, 04:17 PM
My favorite kill from this movie is the guy getting pulled down the drain. EPIC!
With More Yes Than Ever
Sep 28th, 2009, 04:31 PM
I have yet to see this one, I've only seen the one from the 50's when I was young. I might have to find it now if the kills are as epic as the drain one lol.
pickled
Sep 28th, 2009, 05:19 PM
That phone booth scene is epic.
Ranting Swede
Sep 28th, 2009, 06:00 PM
i love this movie, mostly because it had the balls to kill a child, which few horror movies do these days.

but can someone explain to me why the army was going to use this on Russia if its one weakness was the cold? Did they believe that Russia was located in the Bahamas?
Admiral of the Undead
Sep 28th, 2009, 06:33 PM
I got to agree with dewman - the sewer scene where the young boy gets mutilated and dissolved is disturbing. No matter how often I see it, the notion of an innocent kid getting devoured in such a manner makes me feel ill. When the poor kid jumps up out the water and emerges as a dripping mess of rotten flesh and destruction, my stomach just churns.
Forum Virgin
Sep 28th, 2009, 06:37 PM
Would you believe that all the best bits from this movie are on youtube?
Part 1:
Forum Virgin
Sep 28th, 2009, 06:44 PM
We gotta get on that other Splattrax, Rog! Rack Hansen needs to feel our wrath.
Cranberry Everything
Sep 28th, 2009, 06:59 PM
Cowracer: I believe Pentegarn is referring to the 1972 sequel called "Son of Blob", not the original from all the way back in 1958. Son of Blob is wonderfully cheesy, and definitely worthy of a Splattrax.

This is probably my favorite horror remake of all time.
Forum Virgin
Sep 28th, 2009, 08:13 PM
I always wondered did they reuse the effects of this film for Ghostbusters 2?
Shinobi Hero
Sep 29th, 2009, 11:35 AM
I've always liked the 80s remake of The Blob. I had seen the original before and I thought it was okay, but I preferred the remake more, found it more interesting. I come back to it now and then, as I find it that much more fun to watch, and how Meg's boyfriend disintegrates into the blob was my favorite death in the film.

Can't say I'm looking forward to Rob Zombie's take on it, though...
Forum half-noob
Sep 29th, 2009, 05:43 PM
this is why no body tries to reenact Bill and Ted
King of the Monsters
Oct 1st, 2009, 03:02 AM
This movie scared the crap out of me when I was a wee lad... specially the scene where Paul gets et. Now it's one of my favorite horror movies.

And to hell with Rob Zombie and his remake plans for the Blob. e_e
Member
Oct 1st, 2009, 11:24 AM
"and Rob Zombie has the balls to remake this after what he's done to Halloween,and sans the actual blob no less? tsk tsk.
guess his blob will be a morbidly obese redneck wielding a shotgun who drops about a thousand f bombs. "

You write for Dread Central don't you?
I hate this hacker crap!
Oct 1st, 2009, 11:52 AM
Oh blob, how I need to watch it again.
RygarrrR-type
Oct 1st, 2009, 02:33 PM
This movie freaked me out so much when I was a kid.... I think it was R-rated and I can't figure out how me and a couple of friends got into the movie theater, we were only 12 years old but maybe it was PG-13... anyway this is one of my favorite movie "monsters" of all time, thanks for this article!
Member
Sep 16th, 2011, 05:29 AM
The only thing I never understood about this movie, is when they decided to kill her original Football boy friend in the doctors office. He was an all around nice guy and in my personal opinion a better lead then Kevin Dillon.
Forum Virgin
Sep 6th, 2012, 02:49 PM
(long time lurker, first time posting)

I used to watch this all the time when I was younger. At the moment, I'm actually living not too far (roughly an hour) from where this was filmed - Abbeville, Louisiana. The town looks almost exactly the same as in the movie, 24 years later.

Speaking of Son of Blob you'll notice some things from it are in the Blob remake, like the scene where the girl walks in on Chester covered in Blob, or someone getting eaten via sink invasion. Neither scene, of course, are in any way as vivid in the older movie, though.

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