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The Blob
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (2nd December 2016). |
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The Film
 “The Blob” (1988) In 1958 an independent production company produced “The Blob” - a science fiction terror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth and produced by Jack H. Harris, starring Steven McQueen. Yeaworth had directed hundreds of short educational, industrial, and religious films, Harris had been a film distributor but this was his first as a producer, and for the 28 year old McQueen this was his first leading role - playing a teenager of all things. The small budget production shot in Pennsylvania was picked up for distribution by major studio Paramount and became a national phenomenon at drive-ins and movie theaters, grossing nearly 40 times its production cost. Reviews at the time were modest but critics later took note of the impressive effects, the teen characters with their command over rational thinking rather than panic, and the shape shifting monster idea. In 1972 a sequel was produced by Harris, “Beware! The Blob” but did not have the impact of the first film commercially. While working on productions in Hollywood as an assistant, Chuck Russell had always wanted to remake ”The Blob”, but when taking the idea to studios, they all turned the idea down. When his directorial debut ”A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” became a big hit the studios returned with some interest. Along with “Dream Warriors” co-screenwriter Frank Darabont, the two wrote an updated screenplay for ”The Blob”. A lot of the same elements were kept from the original film. The meteor crashing into a small town and unleashing a gelatinous creature, the old man first encountering it and it becoming attached to his hand, the movie theater setpiece, and the monster’s weakness toward ice were all from the original film. As for differences, the characters were changed almost entirely. The teenagers play a major part in the film but they were given very different characterizations. Kevin Dillon plays the resident juvie teen Flagg, the loner with the motorcycle. Donovan Leitch Jr. plays Paul, the high school athlete who takes Meg out on a date. Shawnee Smith plays Meg the cheerleader. Scott is played by Ricky Paull Goldin, Paul’s friend and horny. The townspeople are filled with many other connecting relations - Meg’s father (who is played by Art LaFleurr) has an awkward exchange with Paul when they meet for the second time. The sheriff (played by Jeffrey DeMunn and the deputy (played by Paul McCrane have a differing attitude toward Flagg and his ways. The diner owner Fran (played by Candy Clark) is looking to go out on a date with the Sheriff sometime soon. Each character has some connection to another and the web of characters presented give a real sense of community to the town undergoing a terrorizing crisis. While the first portion of the film sets up the characters well with silly humor and an undeniable 80s vibe, it is after the first encounter with the blob that things take a huge turn with the effects. Tony Gardner who had effects credits for films such as ”Return of the Living Dead” (1985), ”Evil Dead II” (1987) and working with Rick Baker’s special effects crew and Stan Winston’s special effects crew on various other features and productions was the lead maker of the visual effects for the film. Using animatronics, practical effects, miniatures, stop motion, and other in-camera techniques the special effects of the remake far surpassed the techniques of the original film. But the most surprising aspect that was bumped up was the gore factor. Faces are being melted off like acidic burns, the blob is able to infiltrate the body and able to burst out. People get crushed by the blob, devoured by the blob, and dismembered by the blob. The film is an ultimately gory film that does fit in with the 1980s horror aesthetic and is a marvel to watch. People who had seen the 1958 film and thought the remake would be in the same style, they were in for a shock with the amount of blood and gore. Another aspect added was the “reason” for the blob’s coming, which the original never explained but was just assumed was an alien form from a space meteor, a metaphor for an unsuspecting attack from the Cold War enemies which was a common form of metaphorical terror in cinema at the time with alien invasion films such as “War of the Worlds” (1953) and “Earth vs the Flying Saucers” (1956) among many others. Also there is a religious angle that is inserted with the reverend (played by Del Close that also creates some ambiguity to the ending and a possible sequel which still has not happened. Russell and Darabont’s script gave a reflection to the fear over government conspiracies and control along with the fear of evangelical religious zealots who were taking over American airwaves, which also could be a metaphor for today’s 21st century America. While the effects were great, characters were great, and was fairly well received, but was not a commercial success. Columbia TriStar Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States on August 5th, 1988 and grossed $8.2 million which was less than half of its $19 million budget. Possibly the title was an issue as people who knew the original were not interested in seeing a remake and the people who didn’t know the original thought the title was just cheesy. Regardless of the reason, it was not a hit in its theatrical run but was a bigger success on TV and home video. The film has been released on DVD by Columbia TriStar, and also been issued on Blu-ray in the United States by Twilight Time and in Germany by Al!ve. Now it is also available in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment, reviewed here. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray which can be played back on any Blu-ray player worldwide, even though the packaging has a “B” symbol on the disc and rear cover.
Video
Umbrella Entertainment presents the film in 1080p in the AVC MPEG-4 codec in the original theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The transfer does have its good and bad points. First off with the bad - there seems to be some noise reduction applied to the image and certain scenes with solid backgrounds suffer from the filter trying to figure out what the colors are supposed to be, creating a waving flickering effect, such as the brown tent of the reverend at the finale - the brown tent flickers between two shades of brown and it is distracting. The hospital walls have the same effect too. In better terms, there is still grain visible and colors look quite good for the most part. Framing is good and there are no major issues of damage on the film. It’s a slightly disappointing transfer, and note that this is not the same transfer as the US or German Blu-rays though it seems to be coming from the same source. The film runs uncut with a runtime of 94:57.
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 There is a single audio track which is a lossless 5.1 track, and it sounds quite good. Originally released in “Ultra Stereo”, the previous DVD editions had a 2.0 surround track only while the Blu-ray gets a 5.1 upgrade. Dialogue is mostly centered with music and effects taking the surrounding audio channels, and it is a quite effective surround track. Dialogue is always easy to hear and understand and there are no instances of dropouts or audio errors. There are optional English HoH subtitles for the main feature in a white font. The timing is fine and note that spelling off words such as “Ass” is “Arse” for the Australian market and not a straight up copy/paste of the US subtitle track. Also noted that “CO2” was written as “CO’)” instead.
Extras
"Directing The Blob" Interview with Chuck Russell (17:59) This is a new exclusive interview with the director and co-writer Russell reflecting on the film. He talks about his days trying to get the film off the ground, working with Darabont, getting permission from Jack H. Harris, and how certain points in the story were based off of real life incidents such as the infamous condom-buying scene which is every teenager’s nightmare. He also discusses about the cast members, the crew, and the not-so-great theatrical release of the film. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles Theatrical Trailer (1:24) The original trailer is offered here but someone at Umbrella forgot to sync the audio and video together so there is a noticeable lag between what is going on screen and the audio. The voices are heard and about 2 seconds later the mouths start moving. in 720p (upscaled from standard definition) AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles Previous DVD releases only had the trailer as an extra while the US Blu-ray also included a new commentary track by Russell, a Q&A, the isolated score, and also an alternate trailer. The US release does technically have “more” but the Australian interview is a great alternative, and much easier to acquire since the US release is out of print with a limited edition of 3000 copies.
Overall
”The Blob” remake was an underrated and underappreciated film when it was first released in 1988 - exactly 30 years after the original. While it may not have the status of “classic” compared to the original, it does have some genuinely great special effects and fun characters in a now-nostalgic 80s setting. The Australian Umbrella Entertainment release is a little shoddy on video and has trouble with the out-of-sync trailer but offers good audio and a very intriguing director interview. Also note there is a JB HiFi exclusive 2-disc edition which also includes the Blu-ray release of the 1958 film.
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