The Blob (1988)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1988
	Director: Chuck Russell (The Mask, Eraser, The Scorpion King)
	Actors: Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch Jr.
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 11.11.201, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: When a meteorite falls near a small town, a strange pink organism escapes from it and starts growing by ingesting the locals.
Review: I mentionned The Blob in my review of Basket Case, telling that I was in a mood those days to watch great Blu-ray copies of Horror classics form the 80's. I was lucky to read on the Mad Movies website about this edition of The Blob limited to 5000 copies (see the newly commisionned covers at the end of this post), I order it immediately and it was already Out-Of-Print and Sold Out by the time I received it (sadly you can now buy it only on Ebay to the many sellers who quickly acquired it to make a profit, although it was limited to one copy per person). This marketing strategy makes you feel like the limited edition was made only for you, and the written introduction in the booklet talking directly to you. Was it worth the bother? I would say yes without hesitation. First the image quality is fantastic, showing that the HD transfer process was done carefully, but also that the movie was not a random cheap production in 1988 but a serious one (it did cost $20M). Then I was expecting (also from memory since I saw the movie 15 years ago) quite cheap special effects and a laughtable Blob, but there again one can feel the solid budget and the quality of the job done by the effects crew: very far from the ones in Basket Case (understandably as 100 times the budget), and even better than the ones in John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982. When you know how much I love that movie, you understand there has to be something about The Blob. The story is quite classical (watching it brings Ivan Reitman's Evolution to mind), remake of the 1958 forgettable movie with the same title that became unexpectedly known because of its starring a young Steve McQueen in his first leading role. The music unfortunately bears the mark of the 80's but is not too intrusive. But what sets the movie apart is the clever adaptation work, departing from the 1958 analogy to the Communist invasion to a more modern conspiracy one (five years before the X-files TV-series). Also the characters are credible, contrarily to many semi-parodic horror stories of the time like Friday 13th for instance. And when you think the movie is drifting into an easy teenager slasher, it takes you by surprise with a "Mise en abyme" of the cinematographic experience: you are actually watching a movie within the movie, which reminds me of the excellent Matinee and Anguish. Very clever. Finally, to illustrate one of the best things in this movie (the film-making, including framing), let me try something new on this blog and dissect (modestly) the short scene that opens the movie. I have pasted some screenshots below (click on the first and then natigate through them in full screen). After some static shots of the (deserted) town in which the movie will take place (while the credits are displayed), we end up with a view of the cemetery. Is it where everybody is or where they will end up after the Blob is done with them? The camera then slowly pans towards the upper-left while revealing the last of the credits: the director's name. Quickly (third image already) we see some concrete structure emerging from the corner towards which the frame is panning. We start to see some people looking away from the graveyard (turning their back to their future?), but what are their all looking at? We finally understand that their are all cheering for a baseball game, on the pitch of which the image finally settles. This first master shot immediately told me that at least the framing and editing were going to be good, showing the importance of the opening scene in a movie.
Rating: 8 /10