The Blob (1988)
I really enjoyed this film. I thought it was cute, weird, right?
In the beginning, Flagg is trying to jump a bridge with his bike. He litters, which sets me off from his character instantly. BUT, he was developed so well throughout the movie, I ended up developing a minor crush on him myself. He went from a prick that doesn't care about the environment then to this known juvenile delinquent. However, he is really just a down-to-earth kid that has had some trauma, which affects him in terms of trusting or caring for people. But, even with that, he develops by the end and cares for Meg.
I would also like to mention that the sheriff, Herb, was very creepy looking. I am beginning to think that he is the inspiration behind Beetlejuice. He looks like a worm. Another bizarre-looking character was the Reverend. I got significant The Human Centipede Sequence II vibes from him and was bracing myself for another uncomfortable human bug rape scene
1980's graphics weren't the hottest thing, so I will hop over this. This weird blob thing falls out of the sky in a flaming meteor, and of course, the hermit thinks it is a wise idea to go investigate even after his dog runs off. He does the obvious, pokes it with a stick. Then again, it wouldn't be horror, and nothing would spin wildly out of control had he not investigated. Attack of the Killer Donuts seems felt like a very modern B-Horror spun off this, in my opinion.
I also thought it was an interesting twist for a male to be getting such poor treatment for buying condoms. Considering Birth Control was actually illegal until the mid-fifties, it somewhat makes sense. A new world even if it is over a decade later. People are still iffy about birth control now. However, it was nice not to see the apparent sexist attitude toward a woman for once in regards to being sexually active.
The blob itself starts as a smaller, grayish ball of gunk. It grows and develops a pink hue by eating people. Considering it is a biological virus, again, was not expecting that, it makes sense why it hunted humans since it was made to work against them in a lab. Now, this monster moved adorably. It being able to crawl and fly around in the way it did surely seemed alien, but it was attention grasping nonetheless. When it hops off the ceiling and gets Paul, that was good. I flinched at how fast that blob of gunk pounced reminded me of feeding a hungry cobra in that scene. Another very great thing was the acidic digestion it did to its victims. I love gruesome images, this movie, even being a 1958 film, was no short of the monster being brutal, even though you may think the blob is going to be a joke. From the hospital suspense, screw that rude ass nurse by the way, to the phone booth with Fran and Herb, this blob was more than a small giggle. Plus, that thing is FAST. That is scary enough alone.
I also want to point out the car scene. The guy was a rapist, and the blob got him. As we all like to say, it is what he deserved. Though the scene where the blob is crawling through the grass made me think of anacondas. It was strange. In the diner, George, the cook's body getting pulled down the sink drain was excellent, especially the snapping of the body. One thing I did think of here before the death was, "How far can you really stick your arm down a drain that small?
No surprise our damsel in distress, Meg, is somewhat naive, and the science team isn't there to help but for their own gain. Even with the plethora of cliches in the film, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was cute and a nice break from things I tend to watch in my spare time. The monster, Slimy, was excellent, brutal, fast, and kept my attention. I call it Slimy because I watch movies with captions, always have, and every time it came into a scene, that caption was "slimy gurgling" so, I gave him that nickname. Thanks, closed-captioning.
The ending, eh. The crazy reverend ranted about a prophecy, then he ends up having the remainder of the blob planning to use it in some form of judgment day, I assumed, at least. Let's just hope it is in winter when the bad boy can't handle it.
In the beginning, Flagg is trying to jump a bridge with his bike. He litters, which sets me off from his character instantly. BUT, he was developed so well throughout the movie, I ended up developing a minor crush on him myself. He went from a prick that doesn't care about the environment then to this known juvenile delinquent. However, he is really just a down-to-earth kid that has had some trauma, which affects him in terms of trusting or caring for people. But, even with that, he develops by the end and cares for Meg.
I would also like to mention that the sheriff, Herb, was very creepy looking. I am beginning to think that he is the inspiration behind Beetlejuice. He looks like a worm. Another bizarre-looking character was the Reverend. I got significant The Human Centipede Sequence II vibes from him and was bracing myself for another uncomfortable human bug rape scene
1980's graphics weren't the hottest thing, so I will hop over this. This weird blob thing falls out of the sky in a flaming meteor, and of course, the hermit thinks it is a wise idea to go investigate even after his dog runs off. He does the obvious, pokes it with a stick. Then again, it wouldn't be horror, and nothing would spin wildly out of control had he not investigated. Attack of the Killer Donuts seems felt like a very modern B-Horror spun off this, in my opinion.
I also thought it was an interesting twist for a male to be getting such poor treatment for buying condoms. Considering Birth Control was actually illegal until the mid-fifties, it somewhat makes sense. A new world even if it is over a decade later. People are still iffy about birth control now. However, it was nice not to see the apparent sexist attitude toward a woman for once in regards to being sexually active.
The blob itself starts as a smaller, grayish ball of gunk. It grows and develops a pink hue by eating people. Considering it is a biological virus, again, was not expecting that, it makes sense why it hunted humans since it was made to work against them in a lab. Now, this monster moved adorably. It being able to crawl and fly around in the way it did surely seemed alien, but it was attention grasping nonetheless. When it hops off the ceiling and gets Paul, that was good. I flinched at how fast that blob of gunk pounced reminded me of feeding a hungry cobra in that scene. Another very great thing was the acidic digestion it did to its victims. I love gruesome images, this movie, even being a 1958 film, was no short of the monster being brutal, even though you may think the blob is going to be a joke. From the hospital suspense, screw that rude ass nurse by the way, to the phone booth with Fran and Herb, this blob was more than a small giggle. Plus, that thing is FAST. That is scary enough alone.
I also want to point out the car scene. The guy was a rapist, and the blob got him. As we all like to say, it is what he deserved. Though the scene where the blob is crawling through the grass made me think of anacondas. It was strange. In the diner, George, the cook's body getting pulled down the sink drain was excellent, especially the snapping of the body. One thing I did think of here before the death was, "How far can you really stick your arm down a drain that small?
No surprise our damsel in distress, Meg, is somewhat naive, and the science team isn't there to help but for their own gain. Even with the plethora of cliches in the film, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was cute and a nice break from things I tend to watch in my spare time. The monster, Slimy, was excellent, brutal, fast, and kept my attention. I call it Slimy because I watch movies with captions, always have, and every time it came into a scene, that caption was "slimy gurgling" so, I gave him that nickname. Thanks, closed-captioning.
The ending, eh. The crazy reverend ranted about a prophecy, then he ends up having the remainder of the blob planning to use it in some form of judgment day, I assumed, at least. Let's just hope it is in winter when the bad boy can't handle it.
I didn't really touch in my reply about all the cliches, but I see what you mean. Meg annoyed me honestly being the damsel in distress. I originally thought the dude buying condoms when the Reverend walked in was a very funny scene, and even was funny when the other guy showed up to Meg's house, but god I was glad the drugged date guy got his just desserts. I honestly wish that scene had been MORE gruesome. We only got a glimpse of his legs against the window as he was swallowed but we got his dates face caving in. I wanted to see the bastard melt ad scream from the acid.
ReplyDeleteI agree that by the end of the movie my favorite character was Flagg. I was surprised in myself that at the end when they embraced I wanted them to kiss, but they didn't. Maybe it was more taboo back in the 80's to show that? I'm not sure.
Did you like the end of the movie? I thought it was pretty lame, but at least it was foreshadowed earlier in the movie. If it hadn't been, the scene would have felt super out of place. To be fair, it still did for me because there were two reverends, Meg's dad and that crazy guy with the crystals.
AHAHA! Finally, someone asks if I liked the end of something allowing me to not seem like the prick upfront! Bless you. NO. I thought it was a drag. Bleh at most. End that blobish hell or DO NOT. The whole idea of a judgement day annoys me. It could be because of my personal views, but life is already shitty enough. A day of judgement seems a bit like EVERY DAY for me, so why do they try and make it so special with religion in the mix? You know? I don't LOL :}.
DeleteOverall, I thought it was absolutely an adorable film. I enjoyed it. 80's were a lot of hair bands and "taboo" stuff, so I would say I am not sure why the whole kiss thing didn't make its way into the screen writing. I am happy it didn't. I hate sappy love endings.
For what its worth, I didn't like the end of the movie. Mainly because of the "blowing up the snow-making truck and making it snow." I'd have liked to have seen the blob blown up into a million autonomous baby blob monsters, each feeding like the original small blob on the homeless guys arm and trying to grow big again.
DeleteThe reverend was the creepiest one to me. Right at the very beginning, during the football game, they flashed the fans in the scene, and he was their cheering on the Huskies football team. We didn't know who he was at the time, but he was the only face I remembered. I was like, man, that priest fan guy looks whack. I wonder if he will have a role in the movie. Then he did. Definitely a weird looking dude, and just the kind of guy that helps make a horror movie work.
ReplyDeleteThe reverend was hands down the creepiest creep of all of them in the film.
DeleteExactly, casting is critical. I'm hot a big Kevin Dillion fan but he did a stand-up job as the "rebel" so I have to give an "A" to the casting director on this film.
ReplyDeleteHa! I had the same thought about the cook's arm going down the drain. I think that scene was the first one where I was properly shocked by the movie—I didn't expect him to die so gruesomely and I didn't expect Fran to die at all (partly because of a very misleading caption on the website where I watched the movie). I did think that the film used some cliches, though I have to wonder if they were actually cliche back in the 80's (like the evil government agency thing) or whether this film was one of the movies that helped make that trope *into* a cliche. I haven't seen enough older movies to know. I didn't get as many "damsel in distress" vibes from Meg as the rest of y'all seemed to, but maybe it's just because I was glad to actually have a female protagonist after the sausage-fests that were "The Thing" and "Godzilla." But I thought she was pretty much the only competent character right from the get-go—or at least, right from the moment she calls bullsh*t on Flagg in Fran's cafe. That's about when I decided I really liked her (though I rolled my eyes at Flagg's comment about hearing her say the word "sh*t"). (Also, I'm still not sure if I need to censor myself here or not—it feels weird even if I'm quoting a character since this is technically a class assignment...)
ReplyDelete