The Blob (1988)

The Blob is one of those instances where I think I prefer the remake to the original.  While I know that for many this is heresy - thanks to Steve McQueen in an early leading role, the 1958 film has almost sacred status for fans - the fact is that the 1988 is simply a better film.  To be sure, I don't dislike the original, but it is very much a generic, cheap and cheerful low budget monster movie of its era, featuring the then menace du jour, a threat from outer space.  The remake is somewhat more sophisticated: while title creature once again makes its entrance falling from space, this time it is a satellite borne artificially created experimental biological weapon that has been further mutated by space radiation.  In keeping with the eighties, the film's authority figures here are opposed to the young heroes not because, well, their the establishment and naturally disapproving of young people, but because some of them really are involved in a high level conspiracy they want to cover up.  Nobody in authority can be trusted: if they aren't involved in a conspiracy, then, like the local preacher, they're stark staring mad.

Obviously, the 1988 version of The Blob benefits from a bigger budget and better special effects than the original.  Indeed, the effects work are very impressive, with the titular monster messily and graphically dissolving and consuming its victims, often pulling them down sinks or through drain covers.  As is appropriate for a modern day conspiracy thriller, it is all very gloomily filmed with low lighting levels.  The  cast are pretty good too - Kevin Dillon might not be Steve McQueen, but he still makes for a decent hero. While never going down the would be full on comedy route of the 1971 sequel, Beware, The Blob! (aka Son of Blob), the 1988 film, for all of its gloominess and paranoia, never takes itself too seriously.  Best of all, unlike many latter day remakes, the 1988 film doesn't try to completely 'reinvent' the original: the small town setting, the basic plot, most of the main characters, even the denouement  remain more or less faithful to the original.  Modernisation and improvement seem to have been the makers guiding principles when making the film.

Curiously, I've only ever seen The Blob (1988) the once, on its late night TV debut on ITV somewhen in the early nineties.  I don't recall it resurfacing on TV after that and it doesn't seem to be prominent on any of the streaming services.  It has had a couple of home video releases, the most recent being a 2019 Blu-Ray release.  That said, I'm not sure that any of these ever reached the UK.  The film seems to have pretty much been forgotten by the wider film watching public, its financial failure on its initial release doubtless meaning that its production company and distributors don't see it as a marketable asset.  Which is a pity, as, from what I recall, a pretty decent and enjoyable latter day monster movie.