The Plot:
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. - Google
The Monster:
Thoughts:
As was mentioned previously, The Blob remake is often (and with good reason) cited as one of the better horror remakes of all time. I think that the reason for this is multifaceted. Firstly, if a film is going to be remade, a significant period of time should have gone by since the original's release so as to ensure that the remake will be able to distinguish itself from the original (measured by the way in which cultural trends have altered over that period of time). Furthermore, the film in question should have featured content that might better be able to be displayed given the technological advancements (cinematographically) over time.
In the case of The Blob, all of this criteria is met. The remake was made 30 years after the original and, while both include underlying themes regarding a fear of unknown military and extraterrestrial events of their respective eras, both films play to their own individualized socio-political circumstances in a way which creates a new dynamic. Further, regarding the progression of cinematic innovations, the remake allowed for a much more advanced form of special effects technology, most notably related to the use of prosthetics and gore effects. This allowed the film to move into a new territory of brutalness, giving it an entirely new phenomenological presence - a perfect fit for the late 80s.
Watch the Movie:
