Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

The Blob (1988)

Director: Chuck Russell

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This reworking of the 1958 cheapie clearly illustrates one thing: that no increase in budget and no amount of state-of-the-art special effects can compensate for a slim B-movie plot. After a meteorite crashes to earth, the amorphous Blob slimes its way through the small town of Arborville, ingesting en route a varied diet of dogs, groping couples, cinema patrons, and other disposable teens. The gelatinous monster slides from one set piece to the next more smoothly than the stop-start plot, which (as in the original) consists largely of the efforts of cheerleader Smith and rebellious biker Dillon to alert sceptical adults to the alien threat. More successful is the film's main innovation, a government conspiracy subplot in which a biological containment team seal off the town and put the monster's potential as a weapon above the safety of the townspeople. It's the effects that carry the day, however with the sluggish, oozing blob of the original now a clear pink amoebic predator that lashes out sticky tendrils and digests its victims in full view.

Author: NF 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Related articles




Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.