The Blob (1958) vs The Blob (1988)- which do you prefer?

Do you like the original 1958 Steve McQueen movie (where he’s playing a teen lmao) or the 1988 remake starring horror icon Shawnee Smith?

I remember watching the original on tv as a kid and finding it stupid. Not long after they showed the remake on tv and I watched it and LOVED IT!!! It was fun, intense, and fast paced with a lot of scary moments. I also liked that the blob was now pink instead of black.

I rewatched both this past week and the 1988 movie holds up incredibly, although the ending is rushed. So good. The sewer scene is great.

Which did you prefer?

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by Anonymousreply 29October 23, 2022 3:49 AM

There was also the 1972 sequel to the original no one knows about

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by Anonymousreply 2October 8, 2022 12:34 AM

The original was better. The remake was just a forgettable remake.

by Anonymousreply 3October 8, 2022 12:39 AM

The entire original film in HD

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by Anonymousreply 4October 8, 2022 12:44 AM

The entire TERRIBLE 1972 sequel

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by Anonymousreply 5October 8, 2022 12:45 AM

R3 disagree. The Blob 1988 was a perfect remake, and a remake where everything was improved.

The Blob, The Thing, The Fly are all 80s remakes that improve on the original.

by Anonymousreply 6October 8, 2022 12:48 AM

I wish the original Blob had eaten Helen Crump.

Wasn't there a hit record called The Blob by The Five Blobs or something like that?

by Anonymousreply 7October 8, 2022 12:49 AM

Both the 1958 and 1988 movies have the same producer. Jack H. Harris produced both films, and the remake was released exactly 30 years after the original.

by Anonymousreply 8October 8, 2022 12:57 AM

Almost 30 year old Steve McQueen was playing a 16 year old. Another movie we can add to the list of people too old to play teens playing teens.

by Anonymousreply 9October 8, 2022 12:58 AM

The remake is great, amazing practical effects and a strong cast despite Kevin Dillon's HIDEOUS mullet. Was that thing a wig? But the original has a low budget charm and amazing effects for the day. It's fun to see 28 year old Steve McQueen play a high school student, and wow, is he bad in it. His screen magnetism in its infancy. And the lines on his forehead suggest he smoked a carton of Chesterfields before every take. Mmm. I like both equally.

by Anonymousreply 10October 8, 2022 1:01 AM

Steve McQueen hated this movie. He hated it so much that he wouldn’t even acknowledge it for most of his career. It took years before he was willing to speak about it.

by Anonymousreply 11October 8, 2022 1:01 AM

R10 lmao here is trivia about him smoking

“Steve McQueen constantly smoked cigarettes during filming even though he is never shown smoking in the movie. At about 49 minutes into the movie you will notice smoke coming up behind Steve. That's because he is holding a lit cigarette behind him with his hand behind his back.”

He was a heavy smoker and was even smoking while filming scenes and hiding the cigarettes

by Anonymousreply 12October 8, 2022 1:07 AM

It needs to be re-made again so i can have a starring role!

I'll even sing the theme song and play the dance breaks on James Madison's crystal flute!

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by Anonymousreply 13October 8, 2022 1:12 AM

Lizzo is too busy trying to be cast as the lead in The Bodyguard remake

by Anonymousreply 14October 8, 2022 1:13 AM

The original cost just $120k to make (equivalent to $1.2 million in 2022) and earned over $4 million at the box office (equivalent to $40.9 million in 2022). It made a lot of profit for a small movie.

The remake was well done and even had the same producer overseeing it but people didn’t accept it in 1988 and it flopped, earning just $8 million at the box office on a $20 million budget.

It gained a bit of a cult following in the 90s but is mostly ignored today.

Critics mostly praise the remake to this day though.

by Anonymousreply 15October 8, 2022 1:18 AM

The remake is great. Wonderful effects. The 80's had some of the best remakes with this, The Thing, and The Fly. Most of the ones these days can rarely rise above unimaginative cash grab territory and do something new with the story.

by Anonymousreply 16October 8, 2022 1:46 AM

[quote] Steve McQueen hated this movie. He hated it so much that he wouldn’t even acknowledge it for most of his career. It took years before he was willing to speak about it.

Maybe he was mad that he fucked himself when it came to his salary. He was offered a straight salary or percentage of the movie's profit. He chose the former. Of course since the movie was a big hit if he'd chosen the latter he would have gotten a lot more money. Maybe that accounts for his hostility. Anyway, the original "The Blob" was a great B horror movie.

by Anonymousreply 17October 8, 2022 3:39 AM

R17 he thought it was a terrible movie. Later on he grew to appreciate it, as it was his first lead role in a film and even kept a poster of it on his wall by the time he died.

by Anonymousreply 18October 8, 2022 3:48 AM

The instrumental portion of the original these is terrific. I wish I had a full version without the dumb lyrics.

And it's by Burt Bacharach

by Anonymousreply 19October 8, 2022 3:58 AM

[quote] he thought it was a terrible movie.

It wasn't. He might not have liked it because he had distain for horror movies. But it turned out to be one of the classic low budget horror films. He should have been proud of it.

by Anonymousreply 20October 8, 2022 4:02 AM

R20 he was years later. But in 1958 and the 60s he wasn’t and didn’t even allow interviewers to mention it. By the time of his death he kept a poster of it on his wall.

A lot of actors don’t like movies they’re in, even beloved ones.

by Anonymousreply 21October 8, 2022 4:06 AM

There's still a bit of a stigma among some actors about appearing in a horror film. There doesn't seem to be the same stigma among a lot of younger actors, but especially when McQueen was starting out, it wasn't something to be proud of.

by Anonymousreply 22October 8, 2022 8:26 PM

In the 50s horror films were almost always low B films. It wasn’t until Psycho 2 years after this that a horror film was taken very seriously, and in that case it was a different type of horror. It wasn’t a monster from space eating people type horror like Blob, it was a psychological horror.

by Anonymousreply 23October 8, 2022 8:33 PM

The original starred Helen Crump, so -- no contest.

by Anonymousreply 24October 8, 2022 10:14 PM

My favorite scene is when Ricky Paul Goldin is getting his girlfriend drunk in the car and he sticks his hands in her blouse and the blob gets him.

Honorable mention when Candy Clark gets trapped in the phone booth while she calls her policeman boyfriend, only to see his corpse in the blob, then it gets HER.

by Anonymousreply 26October 23, 2022 2:31 AM

R23, several bloody knife murders may not be “monster from space” horror but it is hardly just “Psychological horror.”

by Anonymousreply 27October 23, 2022 2:33 AM

I recently saw the original at a special five dollar screening at a Regal theater, and it holds up pretty well, plus it’s nice and short.

by Anonymousreply 28October 23, 2022 2:34 AM

The original seems like a shoo in until you watch it. Like watching paint dry. Remake is fast paced and inventive.

by Anonymousreply 29October 23, 2022 3:49 AM

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