Scream Factory Collector's Edition
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Duration: 95 Minutes
Director: Chuck Russell
Cast: Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch Jr., Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark, Joe Seneca, Del Close, Paul McCrane, Sharon Spelman
When what appears to be a meteor from outer space lands in the forest outside of a small town in California a drunken transient nearby investigates and begins to prod goo leaking from the meteor with a stick. As he does so the gelatinous glob clings to the stick and begins to consume his hand. The transient runs through the woods in fear and is hit by a passing car driven by local teens, the high school students take him immediately to a nearby clinic run by a local doc (Jack Nance, Eraserhead).
The three teens are bad boy mullet-head Brian Flagg (Kevin Dillon, No Escape), Meg Penny (Shawnee Smith, Who'S Harry Crumb?) and Paul Taylor (Donovan Lietc, Cutting Class). Brian does not stick around long at the hospital, quickly jumping on his motorcycle and off to the local diner for eats while Meg and Paul stay behind with the transient. It's here that poor Paul witnesses the Blob dissolve the lower torso of the transient before it turns on him, dropping from the ceiling and consuming Paul in front of Meg who futilely tries to pull her boyfriend free of the acidic ooze only managing to pull his arm off in the process before being knocked unconscious as the Blob oozes out the window and into town.
The local sheriff (Jeffrey DeMunn, Warning Sign) doesn't believe Meg's fantastic story and she winds up at the local diner with Brian who also doesn't believe her story, that is until the Blob shows up at the diner and sucks the grill cook down the sink drain head first! The sound of crunching bones and gross fleshy sounds in this scene still make me cringe - this is a brutal effect. It's after narrowly avoiding the tendrils of the Blob in the diner by hiding in the freezer that the teens discover it's only apparent weakness - the damn thing hates the cold. Not so lucky is the waitress (Candy Clark, Amityville 3-D) whom while in a phone booth outside the diner is overcome by the flesh-absorbing Jello-O mold. Again, the effects are of the old school practical variety and look amazing, with great use of various miniatures and reverse photography with tons of gooey grossness - the scene of the telephone booth imploding with the waitress inside very cool.
With each victim consumed the Blob dissolves it exponentially increases in size and becomes and more of a threat to the community, but eventually the shady government agents in white contamination suits carrying machine guns and flamethrowers show up, you know to save the day, but mullet-headed bay boy Brian smells the bullshit after speaking with the head scientist, Dr. Meadows (Joe Seneca, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three), discovering that the Blob is not an alien creature but a Cold War-era biological weapon that arrived on Earth via a downed government satellite. Brian escapes the quarantine zone and flees into the sewers along with Meg and her younger brother Kevin (Michael Kenworthy, Return of the Living Dead Part II) where they must contend with not only armed government agents but also the gelatinous flesh-eating creature leading up to a liquid nitrogen fueled finale.
Co-scripted by Frank Darabont (The Mist) this is flick just a blast from start to finish with nods to the original 50's film and plenty of unexpected turns, plus it's loaded with awesome practical and in-camera special effects that hold up so much better than digital stuff, except for that scene of the film projectionist plastered on the ceiling, that effect is shit. The performances are damn decent even though I think that mullet on Kevin Dillon is chuckle worthy, but it certainly goes with his 80's bad boy image, it just hasn't dated well. Peripheral characters include a pair of young lovers in car that fall victim to the goo, the dude is awesome, a smooth ladies man with a full bar in the trunk of his car, he even a signature cocktail he makes for his dates. Plus we get a reverend (Del Close, Beware the Blob!) who preaches the end-time message once the Blob arrives on the scene, he plays into the final scene in the film, one that would have seemed to indicate a potential sequel which unfortunately never panned-out. Also be on the lookout for a small role for Bill Mosely (The Devils Rejects) as one of the government agents.
The in-camera effects and gruesome death scenes are a blast, I love it when the Blob infiltrates the contamination suit of one of the science team, filling up the head gear not unlike something very similar that happens in Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985). The story is fun and the characters keep you plugged-in, but for me its the gooey effects and the amped-up sci-fi action that keep me coming back to this classic 80's remake, it's right up there with John Carpenter's The Thing (19282) and David Cronenberg's The Fly (1996) as one of the best remakes of, not only the 80's, but of all time in my opinion, this is an essential slice of 80's horror/sci-fi!
Audio/Video: The Blob (1988) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory in 1080p HD widescreen framed in 1.85:1. This looks to be the same transfer we saw from Twilight Time a few years back, and that's fine, it's a quality transfer, but it is dated and new scan f this would have impressed even more. The framing both look near identical, but the Scream factory disc is darker, the reds looking more red and slightly less pink and orange, not sure which is more accurate to theatrical exhibition but I prefer the Scream'a disc tone and color.
Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo, it has a good dynamic range with some nice use of the surrounds that really give the film an extra punch. Unlike the Twilight Time release there is no isolated score from composer Michael Hoenig, so you might want to hang onto that TT disc for the isolated score, the collector's booklet, and the 18-min Chuck Russell Q&A from Friday Night Frights at The Cinefamily.
Blu-ray Comparison:
Top: Scream Factory Blu-ray
Bottom: Twilight Time Blu-ray
New extras are expansive, including a pair of newly minted audio commentaries, the first with Director Chuck Russell, Special Effects Artist Tony Gardner, And Cinematographer Mark Irwin, Moderated By super-fan and filmmaker Joe Lynch (The Knights of Badassdom), the second with Actress Shawnee Smith.
We also get new interviews galore, these include a 49-mins with Director Chuck Russell, 14-mins with Actor Jeffrey DeMunn, 17-min with Actress Candy Clark, 15-mins with Actor Donovan Leitch Jr., 18-mins with Actor Bill Moseley, 18 mins with Cinematographer Mark Irwin, 22-mins with Special Effects Artist Tony Gardner, 26-mins with Special Effects Supervisor Christopher Gilman, 21-mins with Production Designer Craig Stearns, 20-mins with Mechanical Designer Mark Setrakian, and 12 mins with Blob Mechanic Peter Abrahamson.
And there's still more, we also get 28-mins of Behind-The-Scenes Footage of Tony Gardner and his FX team, 3-min of theatrical trailers, a 1-min TV spot and a 5-min gallery of still images, lobby cards, concept art, and posters.
The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring the original theatrical poster on one side and a new illustration from from David Levine. the disc itself features an excerpt of the same new illustration. The first-pressing also includes a limited edition slipcover with the new illustration.
Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Chuck Russell, Special Effects Artist Tony Gardner, And Cinematographer Mark Irwin, Moderated By Filmmaker Joe Lynch
- NEW Audio Commentary With Actress Shawnee Smith
- NEW It Fell From The Sky! – An Interview With Director Chuck Russell (49 min)
- NEW We Have Work To Do – An Interview With Actor Jeffrey DeMunn (14 min)
- NEW Minding The Diner – An Interview With Actress Candy Clark (17 min)
- NEW They Call Me Mellow Purple – An Interview With Actor Donovan Leitch Jr. (15 min)
- NEW Try To Scream! – An Interview With Actor Bill Moseley (18 min)
- NEW Shot Him! – An Interview With Cinematographer Mark Irwin (18 min)
- NEW The Incredible Melting Man – An Interview With Special Effects Artist Tony Gardner (22 min)
- NEW Monster Math – An Interview With Special Effects Supervisor Christopher Gilman (26 min)
- NEW Haddonfield To Arborville – An Interview With Production Designer Craig Stearns (21 min)
- NEW The Secret Of The Ooze – An Interview With Mechanical Designer Mark Setrakian (20 min)
- NEW I Want That Organism Alive! – An Interview With Blob Mechanic Peter Abrahamson (12 min)
- NEW Gardner’s Grue Crew – Behind-The-Scenes Footage Of Tony Gardner And His Team (28 min)
- Audio Commentary With Director Chuck Russell, Moderated By Film Producer Ryan Turek
- Theatrical Trailers (3 min)
- TV Spot (1 min)
- Still Gallery (5 min)
The Blob (1988) is truly one of the best sci-fi/horror remakes of all time, a film with wonderful gooey special effects and a stupefying 80's mullet that delivers the goods and then some.
