The Blob Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The Blob Blu-ray Movie Review

Prior releases of Chuck Russell's outstanding remake (1988) of Irvin S. Yeaworth's original The Blob (1958) have been covered by my colleagues Jeff Kauffman and Dr. Svet Atanasov. To read Jeff's analysis of Twilight Time's out-of-print 2014 BD-25, please click here. To see Svet's thoughts on Umbrella Entertainment's 2016 Standard Edition, please click here.

Rusty James's "real" brother revs up his motor bike.

The Blob Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

To celebrate The Blob's thirty-first anniversary, Scream Factory has assembled a most comprehensive Collector's Edition that comes with a slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Joel Robinson. Chuck Russell's second feature as a director is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. The picture looks excellent with very few age-related artifacts or print defects. This transfer uses the same master as TT and Umbrella but contrast varies between them. TT boosted its contrast as the image is noticeably brighter. The Scream, like German-based Alive/Meteor Film's transfer, displays darker, more natural light without the boosted levels. The infamous slime that terrorizes residents of Arborville, Louisiana seems to replicate the color scheme from the theatrical prints. In his August 1988 review in the Detroit Free Press, film critic Robin D. Givhan observed: "The best thing this film has going for it is the slime that moves along the color spectrum, from lavender to violet and finally a pulsating pink by the time it's finished munching on the townspeople." Scream's encode of the feature boasts an average video bitrate of 34000 kbps.

The 95-minute film is accompanied by a dozen chapters.

The Blob Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream supplies a DTS-HD Master Audio English 5.1 Surround remix (2836 kbps, 24-bit) and the original DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1655 kbps, 24-bit). I listened mainly to the lossless 5.1 and was impressed with the spatial width and depth. The soundscape has great balance and use of directional effects. Dialogue is cleanly reproduced, including when governement workers from the Biological Containment Team speak through their astronaut helmets. There are a few occasions in which I thought the track could have taken more advantage of discrete f/x on the surround channels.

Composer Michael Hoenig (9½ Weeks) wrote a score that he characterizes as "abstract sound sculpting" in an interview with fellow composer Brian Satterwhite. Hoenig crafted a three-note motif for the faceless title creature that later morphs into five notes. Hoenig employed the then-new Synclavier and various custom synths for a horror thriller score that's grown on me since the first time I heard it. The music has been cleanly mixed on the lossless audio tracks. Unfortunately, Scream did not acquire the isolated score available on TT's LE. The slip and back covers list it but it's nowhere to be found on the disc. La-La Land Records issued an expanded soundtrack eight years ago (2,000 units) and while OOP, some are still on the collector's market and worth tracking down.

Scream has provided optional English SDH for the main feature.

The Blob Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scream Factory has ported over an older commentary and added many new bonus materials.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Director Chuck Russell, Special Effects Artist Tony Gardner, and Cinematographer Mark Irwin, Moderated by Filmmaker Joe Lynch - Lynch is a legitimate number one fan of The Blob and his effusiveness shows as he leads this group discussion. (It convinced him to become a filmmaker.) Russell, Gardner, and Irwin gleefully recount their time making the film. Their chat demonstrates what an incredibly fun experience it was to work on an "adventure horror," as one put it. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Actress Shawnee Smith - Smith is joined by an uncredited moderator and this is the least satisfying commentaries of the three. It's not that Smith isn't enthusiastic about The Blob (she is) but the moderator doesn't come-up with many follow-up questions after Smith gives a brief one-sentence reply to a question. Smith does become more talkative as the track goes along and the silent gaps decrease as a result. In English, not subtitled.

• Audio Commentary with Director Chuck Russell, Moderated by Film Producer Ryan Turek - this solo filmmaker commentary with moderator assist was first recorded by Twilight Time in 2014. It's an engaging listen as Russell provides both screen-specific remarks and production anecdotes. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW It Fell from the Sky! – An Interview with Director Chuck Russell (Part 1) (22:26, 1080p) - in the first part of this longer interview, Russell reminisces on his early creative ventures, co-writing Dreamscape, and Bob Shaye giving him his first directorial gig with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW It Fell from the Sky! – An Interview with Director Chuck Russell (Part 2) (26:32, 1080p) - the second part is devoted entirely to The Blob: i.e., Russell's memories of seeing the original, his casting choices, and friendship with Frank Darabont. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW We Have Work to Do – An Interview with Actor Jeffrey DeMunn (14:13, 1080p) - DeMunn is interviewed in his modest home. The prolific TV actor remembers the first time he acted on stage, the advice he got from Ellen Burstyn on Rusurrection (1980), and how he got cast as Sheriff Geller. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Minding the Diner – An Interview with Actress Candy Clark (16:40, 1080p) - Clark remembers how she just wanted to get on movie sets as an extra. She has terrific stories about Lynn Stalmaster and especially Fred Roos. Clark also describes her character of Fran Hewitt and the chemistry she enjoyed with Jeff DeMunn's sheriff. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW They Call Me Mellow Purple – An Interview with Actor Donovan Leitch Jr. (15:21, 1080p) - the British-born actor opines about his favorite horror movies and their makers, how he first came to act, and virtually all his scenes as Paul Taylor in The Blob. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Try to Scream! – An Interview with Actor Bill Moseley (18:38, 1080p) - Moseley recollects a great story about he auditioned and won a role in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. He also spends a great deal of time telling how he landed the bit part as Soldier #3, his scenes, and what it was like to don the white spacesuit. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Shot Him! – An Interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin (18:10, 1080p) - Irwin explains how his DP work on Cronenberg's The Fly helped land him the same occupation on The Blob. He also broaches his working collaboration with Chuck Russell and the filming conditions in Louisiana. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW The Incredible Melting Man – An Interview with Special Effects Artist Tony Gardner (22:02, 1080p) - Gardner gives a detailed movie CV here. He recalls fondly starting out with legends Rick Baker and Stan Winston. He delves into a lot of the movies he worked on during the '80s. He explains in great detail how particular scenes were constructed in The Blob and how he and his shop pulled off the animatronic effects. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Monster Math – An Interview with Special Effects Supervisor Christopher Gilman (26:14, 1080p) - Gilman reminisces on his family auto-racing days, meeting Paul Newman, and his varied career as a props master and special wardrobe designer. He also goes into how the crew achieved the meteor effects in The Blob. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Haddonfield to Arborville – An Interview with Production Designer Craig Stearns (20:32, 1080p) - Sterns was in the same film school and class at USC with John Carpenter and delivers some great production stories about working on Halloween and The Fog. He also talks about the sets he designed for The Blob. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW The Secret of the Ooze – An Interview with Mechanical Designer Mark Setrakian (19:41, 1080p) - Setrakian reminisces about his obsession with monster movies growing up. He addresses the wrangling that was required to produce the Blob's tentacles in selected scenes. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW I Want That Organism Alive! – An Interview with Blob Mechanic Peter Abrahamson (12:23, 1080p) - Abrahamson really got psyched up for this interview and it shows. He recalls reading about The Empire Strikes Back in Cinefex as a young man and how that motivated him to have a film career in special effects. He has a funny anecdote about a crew member who approached him about The Blob on a recent production. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Gardner's Grue Crew – Behind-the-Scenes Footage of Tony Gardner and His Team (28:18, 480i) - these are "golden scraps" found on vintage VHS tapes of Gardner and his crew creating the makeup and Blob effects.

• Theatrical Trailers (2:52, 1080p) - two similar trailers for The Blob (1988) that TriStar produced for theater play. They have been restored in are presented in 1.85:1.

• TV Spot (:32, upscaled to 1080) - a decent-looking spot of the remake taken from VHS.

• Still Gallery (5:00, 1080i) - a slide show consisting of sixty-five images. The first dozen black-and-white stills are taken from Columbia TriStar's original press kit folder; next fourteen comprise high-res color photos taken on location; this is followed by nine posters scanned from roll-out sheets and others folded-out. There are also newspaper ads and poster sheets in foreign markets. Tri-Star also produced glossy color stills in its marketing campaign and there are eight here. Twenty lobby cards are reproduced in color from TriStar's French and Spanish ad campaigns. Two comic-book style drawings round out the gallery.

The Blob Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I can distinctly remember seeing the front cover of The Blob's VHS on the rack of my Adventures in Video rental store in the late '80s/early '90s and thinking it must be an inferior remake to a (minor) '50s horror/sci-fi classic. How wrong I was! I watched the two back-to-back and the narrative of Steve McQueen's acting debut has a more laborious pace and archaic special effects that greatly pale to the remake thirty years later. Granted, the '58 movie had a budget of only $240K while Russell's was equipped with a $20 million budget. Russell and Darabont's script retains some of the story events from the original but also significantly expands upon it with additional supporting characters. Both Shawnee Smith and Kevin Dillon split the protagonist goals of McQueen's Steve Andrews. Generally, I love the films that either of the Dillon brothers appear in and here it's Kevin portraying the rebel outsider that Matt perfected in Over the Edge, My Bodyguard, The Outsiders, and Rumble Fish. Kevin's Brian Flagg starts out as unlikely hero but is thrust in the middle of the fray to become Meg Penny's protective guardian.

Scream Factory's transfer and lossless audio equal or exceed its predecessors. The label has also recorded two new audio commentaries and eleven new interviews. The disc loses the Isolated Score track on the TT as well as the Friday Night Frights Q&A discussion. Also missing is the eighteen-minute interview with Chuck Russell on Umbrella's Australian release. However, Scream's two-part interview with Russell's as well as his participation in the group commentary should compensate for that absence. This deluxe edition of The Blob will likely make my year-end top ten for best BDs. A COLLECTOR'S SERIES worthy package.