This Day in Horror History: THE BLOB Remake Was Released in 1988
On this day in horror history, Chuck Russell’s The Blob with Shawnee Smith (Saw) and Kevin Dillon (Entourage) was unleashed in 1988.
Russell and co-writer Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) met while working on Hell Night with Linda Blair. The two also collaborated on A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
Tony Gardner was originally supposed to provide a few small effects but ended up running a full crew after Lyle Conway dropped out. In creating the titular creature, Gardner’s team used silk injected with Methacil, a food additive, creating what the team described as a “Blob Quilt”.
Production began on January 11, 1987, in Abbeville, Louisiana. The Blob was considered a bomb when it was released as it only managed to snag $8.2M at the box-office despite boasting a budget of $10M.
In a tiny California town, high school students Brian (Kevin Dillon), Meg (Shawnee Smith), and Paul (Donovan Leitch) discover a strange, gelatinous substance that melts the flesh of any living creatures in its path. The deadly substance gets into the town’s sewer system, where it begins growing uncontrollably, occasionally emerging to feast on unsuspecting townspeople. A military clean-up crew is sent to eliminate the menace, but it may end up doing more harm than good.
Directed by Chuck Russell from a screenplay he co-wrote along with Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) from a story by Irving H. Millgate based on the original movie written by Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker, the movie features Smith and Dillon with Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark, and Joe Seneca. Jack H. Harris and Elliott Kastner produced. Michael Hoenig and J. Peter Robinson provided the score while Mark Irwin served as cinematography, and Tod Feuerman and Terry Stokes edited it all together.
It sports a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes with this Critics Consensus: The Blob can’t replicate the B-movie charms of the original, though its fast pace and gory thrills pack enough of a punch to make it a worthwhile update.
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