The Blob

Fresh from one of the best episodes of the Elm Street saga (“A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors“, 1987), director Chuck Russell co-wrote the screenplay (along with the always-competent Frank Darabont) for this remake of the classic 1950s sci-fi film, “The Blob” (1958), which featured a then little-known Steve McQueen.

Although basically maintaining the original plot, the 1980s zeitgeist is readily apparent in the remake, which completely looks and feels like a product of its era, both because of its visual style as well at its inherent take on the subject matter it deals with. As for the film’s visual style, one strong point of “The Blob” is its outstanding handmade special effects (but we also find a smidgeon of fledgling computer graphics), which markedly enhance the horror component, placing it directly in the realm of body horror films, not far from cult favorites such as Frank Henenlotter’s “Basket Case” (1982), or “From Beyond” (1986), directed by Stuart Gordon.

As far as the messages the film conveys, one can detect a creeping institutional intolerance and an anticlerical critique completely absent from its forerunner. Along those lines, the notion of making a conceptual change to the blob’s origin, from an alien substance symbolizing a communist invasion to a weapon created in a lab by US military scientists, seems a particularly significant choice (The cynical Colonel Hargis admits: “This is an experiment in biological warfare.“).

The scant box office receipts are justifiable, given the film’s unexpected darkness as well as its hint of malice, unusual for a mainstream movie.

Underrated.