I remember seeing you in \u201cThe Blob\u201d when I was a wee lad. I used to watch it every other day on WPIX Channel 11 before it was taken over by the WB, and even though most of the film was edited and chopped up, I watched not only because it\u2019s one of the best remakes of all time, but because, well, you\u2019re really hot. I remember being ten always watching \u201cThe Blob\u201d before I went to bed. The movies always started at eight and, come hell or high water, they ended at ten for the news, and that\u2019s okay, because that\u2019s when I went to bed. I remember being ten and watching your sweet self running around screaming and just being an all around hotty, even when in the sewer all wet and dirty.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/E0tfITh.png\")
I remember reading years later that you love to be recognized as the girl from \u201cThe Blob\u201d, and then I just thought that if you weren\u2019t already married and knocked up, I\u2019d stalk you. Just kidding\u2026 not really. Most actresses really disown their past even if they do or don\u2019t make it.<\/p>\n
Barbara Hershey won\u2019t talk about \u201cThe Entity\u201d and try to get Jennifer Aniston to discuss \u201cLeprechaun\u201d, but even when you took part in a successful horror trilogy, you\u2019re still unpretentious. You love horror, you love horror fans, and we love you. You\u2019re gorgeous, and we enjoyed your performance in \u201cThe Blob\u201d as a cheerleader who defies the trappings of the cliche becoming this courageous heroine.<\/p>\n
And then you were in \u201cThe Stand\u201d as Flagg\u2019s insane sidekick, and then there was \u201cSaw.\u201d There was a lot of hooplah involved in that film. Some loved it, some hated it, others panned it, people despised the surprise ending, but, not too surprisingly, the object of \u201cSaw\u201d that was given most of the hype was you and your brief walk on as Amanda, a drug addict who manages to escape the infamous jaw trap.<\/p>\n
And let\u2019s not forget \u201cSaw II\u201d which you\u2019re given a bigger role and a more prominent importance in the series. See, I usually bash studios for them to do this was a smart move. The movie was great, and you were better, but I remember watching an online interview with you and you were so accommodating to us horror geeks. Hell, even though you know most of them don\u2019t even know how to talk to women, you were still great.<\/p>\n
I forgot what the point of this article was\u2026<\/p>\n
Now sure, I\u2019ve always said no one can ever top Steve McQueen, but in the remake of \u201cThe Blob\u201d, Kevin Dillon in a long curly mane comes close. Oh so close.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Blob\u201d is really one of the better remakes to be made, and it\u2019s to the point where it almost tops the original, mainly because it\u2019s played with a tone that\u2019s both utterly dramatic yet campy enough to enjoy. I mean how many guys thought twice about reaching into to cop a feel on our unconscious date after watching this?<\/p>\n
None, I know.<\/p>\n
But \u201cThe Blob\u201d is really one of my favorite remakes. So after watching it for the thousandth time on premium cable (ain\u2019t I fancy?) and learning of Hollywood\u2019s plans to remake it yet again, I felt the need to muse on one of the best remakes I\u2019ve ever seen. News on the remake made me wonder, what would we get? PG-13 fare? Another showcase of CW stars and one person from \u201cLost\u201d? One of Hollywood\u2019s newest methods is taking a remake and completely saturating it to the point where it\u2019s indiscernible from the original.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/zqAeL0a.png\")
Take for example \u201cThe Invasion\u201d which is or was yet another remake of \u201cInvasion of the Body Snatchers\u201d (the \u201953 version is by far my favorite) that takes place in London, star Nicole Kidman, and had a story that\u2019s somewhat similar towards the original source but completely differ in terms of concept and alien motives, thus it\u2019s a completely different movie, while acting as a remake.<\/p>\n
Hey, it worked for \u201cSlither\u201d. I subscribe to Joseph Dougherty\u2019s thoughts that \u201cInvasion of the Body Snatchers\u201d should be remade every ten or fifteen years, basically because each version has always managed to reflect current social overtones, and currently with the \u201csuspect everyone, trust no one\u201d sensibility in terms of terrorism, it\u2019s about time we had another \u201cInvasion\u201d remake harping on that topic.<\/p>\n
As for \u201cThe Blob\u201d it\u2019s a concept and story that can be taken as a campy comedy, or a horror film with a stern drama tone. The original McQueen installment was played with both a comic novelty and a mildly horrific tone. But the eighties remake was altogether a different cut of the same cloth. This film reflected the eighties in every way yet played the story with a more horrific tone with some camp thrown in every so often.<\/p>\n
The psychotic preacher, the gun toting scientists, the waitress who decides to get herself trapped in a phone booth instead of running and hiding, Kevin Dillon\u2019s long mane, and a hero who can basically maneuver his motorcycle around the sewer without much trouble. But, in spite of its evident camp, \u201cThe Blob\u201d is played with very much horror, and the blob itself is a creepy presence. The person we think is the main character (Donovan Leitch) is offed in the first half of the film in a rather gruesome fashion, and the character we assume will be thrown away ends up saving the day. I haven\u2019t seen anything like that since \u201cJason Lives\u201d.<\/p>\n
As always, the plot involves a meteor that crashes, an old hobo that discovers it and brings it with him, and the rest of the film is basically Smith\u2019s character attempting to prove to everyone that the blob is around, while the gelatinous monster oozes around and devours anything in sight, and there are some torn limbs here and there, and a poor horny schmoe who gets eaten in an attempt to cop a feel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Blob\u201d is that rare remake that I can watch over and over because it\u2019s so cheesy, but it goes down so easy. Is there a better sight than watching a dish washer being sucked down a small sink drain? I think not! And what about the ending that leaves the door open for a sequel? Did they ever plan a sequel? It\u2019s not very intricate, it doesn\u2019t try to give any political commentary, and it just gives us what the original gave us: guiltless entertainment.<\/p>\n
And I enjoy it. I enjoy it when the two young boys are attempting to watch the cookie cutter slasher film and two noisy patrons are scooped up from behind them by the blob that looms on the ceiling, I love how such a huge theater doesn\u2019t notice a humongous ooze hanging above them, I love the strobe effect when the film dies out and the audiences are attempting to book it, and there\u2019s really not a scene in horror films that I\u2019ve seen many times that leaves me tense as when Smith\u2019s character Meg is stuck in the sewer with her brother and his best friend.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/zaMT7W2.png\")
Suffice it to say, for a kid who was only eight around the time it appeared on basic television, it was surprising to see a small kid get dragged from the safety of an adult into the water to be eaten alive from the blob. All of which leads up to the fun climax where the gigantic blob begins to consume the entire town, with no help from the police whom seem to be MIA. It swats, it scoops, it grabs, and it breaks people in two, and Smith goes Rambo on that purple bitch firing off a semi-automatic, planting grenades, and even giving a war cry. If this isn\u2019t pure eighties, I\u2019m not sure what is.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always thought the point of remakes were the notion of a studio to try again with a film they weren\u2019t happy with the first time, or one that has aged consistently. Worked for \u201cThe Thing\u201d (though I still love the original), and it worked for \u201cThe Fly\u201d (though I still love the original). The problem is, I don\u2019t see the wrinkles on \u201cThe Blob\u201d, so I\u2019m perplexed as to why they\u2019d remake it again. Maybe it\u2019s because this current version is a childhood favorite, one I would watch right before bed. Maybe, I just enjoyed this film so damn much, and maybe it\u2019s the sentimental value, but I just don\u2019t see how it could be thought of as obsolete. Sure, McQueen\u2019s film isn\u2019t so hot these days, so they scored with a remake. Why do it again and risk a bomb? Yeah, I know the answers, but these are just rhetorical questions. Its easy money, and a resume filler for some sitcom star.<\/p>\n
And I\u2019ll welcome it. I want to see what they have for us.<\/p>\n
And I want to see the Strawberry Jam scoop up some hapless small town sap, again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I remember seeing you in \u201cThe Blob\u201d when I was a wee lad. I used to watch it every other day on WPIX Channel 11 before it was taken over by the WB, and even though most of the film was edited and chopped up, I watched not only because it\u2019s one of the best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[477,678,835,906,1013,1087],"class_list":["post-1717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-halloween-horror-month","category-pcthugs","tag-horror","tag-monsters","tag-remake","tag-science-fiction","tag-suspense","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}