31 Days of Horror: The Blob (1988)

October is an excellent time to go out at night. To cause mischief under a bright moon in the dark sky. But when you're out there, look up at that sky and imagine seeing a fiery object fall from the sky and land a few feet away. Now imagine a small amorphous organism emerging from that object and consuming humans, growing bigger with each one. Finally, imagine finding out the US government created the organism. Congratulations, you are in 1988’s The Blob.

Directed by Chuck Russell, The Blob is a remake of the 1958 film of the same name. A classic product of the McCarthy era, the original features all-American heart throb Steve McQueen as heroic teenager Steve Andrews, who fights to save his small Pennsylvania town from the titular monster. 

While the original does hold a significant place in cinema, I have to argue that the 1988 version is one of those rare instances in which the remake was better, especially as a horror film. 

Headed by Tony Gardner, who also worked on Zombieland and Army of Darkness, the practical effects in the 1988 version are some of the most grotesquely awesome to come out of the decade. Constructing the organism was a monster of a task itself—the effects team had to build a “Blob Quilt,” a gigantic mass of silk bags full of methyl cellulose, a common food emulsifier. The end result was a high contrast to the bright red Jello-like mass from the original film. 

The plot is another deviation from the original that adds to its appeal. While the basic summary—a red mass lands in a small town and consumes the residents—the origins and characters differ. 

Rather than an exteterestrial orgin, the 1988 remake establishes the organism as an engineered germ originally sent via satellite into space by the US government as part of a biological warfare experiment. Conditions in space evolved it into a physical, gooey life form and the satellite was thrown out of orbit, landing in Arborville, California. Instead of boy-next-door high school hero Steve McQueen, the hero of the movie is the long-haired juvenile delinquent Brian Flagg (Kevin Dillion). Generally disregarded as little more than a bad boy by the locals, Brian proves to be brave and pivotal to stopping the creature. 

Unlike the original film, there are also human antagonists present. A team of soldiers and government scientists swoop into town shortly to contain the blob, showing little regard for the “expendable” townspeople. 

The 1988 version updates the attitude of the time

An entertaining film for sure, the 1988 remake also carries elements that reflect the societal and political differences between the 1950s and 1980s. As was previously mentioned, the original movie came out during the McCarthy era, a time when there was perceived fear of the unraveling of American life, primarily through communism. This is not lost on the film—a literal “red menace” invading rural America and consuming the peaceful residents? Come on!

The remake takes a very different route, instead making the US government responsible for the monster, making them the overarching enemy. Ironically, the experiment was the result of Cold War tension, and a colonel in the film even comments how their evolved specimen will put US defense “years ahead of the Russians.”

Flagg outwardly distrusts authority figures and is highly suspicious of the government's arrival so soon after the creature’s own. By 1988, public distrust in the government contrasted the attitude 30 years prior, and there were growing conspiracy theories of AIDS being created by the government. 

The Blob (1988) is a great film to put on during October, but if I’m being honest, it is one that I watch year-round and will continue to do so in November. Then December. But it always fits the general atmosphere when I watch it during October, just like the film fit the general atmosphere of 1988.

The Blob (1988) is currently available to stream for free on Tubi.