Harefooted Halloween: The Blob (1988)

What I Liked: The special effects are awesome.  Most of the time the purplish blob looks great and kills its victims in different ways.  I’m not sure which death I like best because they’re all pretty good.  What really makes it is that the blob doesn’t just absorb people but it melts them into these grotesque creatures.

The story is pretty streamlined with the blob itself taking center stage.

What I Didn’t Like: There are your usual bunch of clichés that you find in a lot of horror movies.  There’s an outcast biker dude who becomes the unlikely hero, the cheerleader sheds her innocent side to become a badass broad, the mindless and bodiless blob stalks its victims and teases with them before pouncing, etc.

There’s also the strange angle that the blob is really a military made chemical weapon that got out of hand.  Having a backstory like this for the blob does make the movie slightly more unique but at the same time I had a hard time buying it.  I guess I would rather the blob just be from outer space.

Overall Impression: This film has a fairly bad reputation and I can understand why with the poor acting, dialogue and faceless villain.  It’s difficult to get into a blob I think, to have it be scary and interesting.  Plus the plot unfolds like every other story in a horror movie which doesn’t help either.

Director Chuck Russell has kind of a fascinating resume with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Mask, Eraser and The Scorpion King.  He makes fun movies and this is no exception.  It’s not great but if you want an easy going horror film that you don’t have to get too involved in, and especially if you’re into special effects, then check it out.