10 PERFECT Monster Movies You MUST Watch

4. The Blob

The blob
TriStar Pictures

Even though the original Blob had a great premise, the special effects were poor and the alien goo rarely felt like a credible threat.

Fortunately, the 1988 remake fixed these problems. Rather than being a mindless creature, this incarnation of the Blob can think and strategise, so it can sneak up on its prey or corner them with the efficiency of a slasher villain.

Unlike the original, the remake (which was directed by A Nightmare on Elm Street III's Chuck Russell) shows what happens to anyone who becomes consumed by the amorphous mass... and the results aren't pretty. The Blob's acidic body melts its victims to paste, leading to astoundingly gruesome deaths. These grisly moments are brought to life with a mix of prosthetics, puppetry, and stop-motion, all of which look frightfully realistic.

Rather than following the original beat-for-beat, the remake goes in a different direction at the halfway point which, without going into spoilers, should blindside viewers. The Blob also explores thought-provoking themes, like religion, conspiracies, and institutional lies, which stops the film from feeling like a bare-bones "kill-the-monster" story.

There've been rumours of another Blob remake for decades, but it's unlikely any iteration could compete with the 1988 version.

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows