The Blob

A remake of 1958’s The Blob, The Blob follows several characters, including Kevin Dillon’s Brian Flagg and Shawnee Smith’s Meg Penny, as they’re forced to battle a deadly entity that grows bigger (and deadlier) as it consumes more and more people. It’s a somewhat ludicrous premise that’s employed to surprisingly (and often shockingly) compelling effect by Chuck Russell, as the filmmaker, working from a script written with Frank Darabont, delivers a relatively brisk horror endeavor that’s packed with engaging, suspenseful set pieces and a whole raft of compelling characters – with, in terms of the latter, Dillon and Smith’s strong work as the affable leads heightened by a quirky supporting cast that includes Jeffrey DeMunn, Paul McCrane, and Del Close. There’s little doubt, though, that The Blob‘s most potent (and downright entertaining) attribute is its portrayal of the terrifying title creature, and it’s impossible, certainly, not to get a kick out of the myriad of gruesome deaths perpetuated by the seemingly unstoppable behemoth (eg the blob attacks a movie theater full of people, the blob sucks a victim through a kitchen drain, etc). And although the second half is perhaps not quite as taut as the first, The Blob undoubtedly finishes on an exceedingly satisfying note and the picture is, in the end, one of the more overtly successful horror remakes ever made.

***1/2 out of ****