The Blob

A meteor lands near a small town. Whatever comes out of it dissolves the first man who touches it, and the mass grows with everything it eats. As it moves toward the town the army arrives and the real problem becomes clear. Chuck Russell directed and co-wrote with Frank Darabont. The key difference from the 1958 original is here: the mass is not a creature from space but a biological weapon built during the Cold War. The danger comes from your own government rather than from outside. Filming took place in Abbeville, Louisiana with a cast and crew of around 150. Tony Gardner led the effects; the creature was built from silk bags filled with methyl cellulose, a food thickening agent, and the team called it the Blob Quilt. Tri-Star released it on 5 August 1988. It grossed 8.2 million dollars against a 10 million budget. The reviews were positive and its standing grew over time. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 71 percent, with retrospective critics praising its inventive, gracefully repulsive special effects and its post-Watergate anti-authoritarian message. Who it is for: viewers who like practical effects and eighties horror. Who it is not for: anyone with a weak stomach. The dissolving scenes are the film's most striking element and none of them are hidden.