The late, great filmmaker Chuck Russell, who died on July 22, 2026, was behind some of the biggest hits of the 1980s and 1990s, including the 1987 horror sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (which outgrossed the same year’s The Princess Bride), the 1994 Jim Carrey vehicle The Mask (which was one of the titles - along with Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective to make Carrey the first star with three No. 1 movies in the same year), and the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner Eraser (which was the 11th highest-grossing movie of that year at the domestic box office).
However, he also helmed the 1988 horror remake The Blob, which deserves much more love than it gets, in spite of not being a hit at the level of those other titles. In fact, it was a major flop in theaters, grossing just $8.2 million against its $10 million budget. But let’s break down exactly what audiences were missing back in the late 1980s.
What Is The Blob, Anyway?
Chuck Russell’s The Blob is the final entry in a trifecta of exquisite 1980s horror remakes of 1950s sci-fi classics.
The first was John Carpenter’s 1982 movie The Thing, a remake of the paranoid 1951 alien thriller The Thing From Another World. The Carpenter movie also underperformed, grossing $20.9 million against a $15 million budget. However, it later became a beloved classic among genre fans.
The second was David Cronenberg’s 1986 feature The Fly, which was a remake of the 1958 movie of the same name that ramped up the body horror considerably, as the filmmaker behind Videodrome was wont to do. That movie, which starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, was a legitimate success, grossing $60.6 million against a budget of roughly $15 million.
The Blob, which debuted on August 5, 1988, arrived 30 years after the original 1958 movie of the same name, which starred Steve McQueen as a teenager (never mind the fact that the actor was pushing 30) who - along with his girlfriend (Aneta Corseaut) - encounters an all-consuming blob of tissue that threatens his town after falling from space. The new version follows the same plot formula, though it makes the analogue to Steve McQueen’s character, football jock Paul (Donovan Leitch), a Psycho-style false lead before he is devoured and his cheerleader girlfriend Meg (Shawnee Smith) teams up with local bad boy Brian (Kevin Dillon).
Somehow, in spite of doing the exact same thing as The Thing and The Fly (ie. turning a low-budget sci-fi classic into a visceral special effects extravaganza by harnessing the updated technology and relaxed cinematic censorship standards of the 1980s), The Blob doesn’t enjoy a reputation that is quite so sterling as either of its fellow remakes.
The Blob Is a Perfect Reimagining of a Classic
Although the original The Blob is a terrific film, the remake more than justifies its existence by virtue of every single element of the project firing on all cylinders. First off is the cast, which assembles a deep bench of fun character actors (The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey DeMunn, Ferris Bueller's Day Off’s Del Close) opposite rising stars (Saw’s Shawnee Smith, Beverly Hills, 90210’s Douglas Emerson), genre icons (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2’s Bill Moseley, Eraserhead’s Jack Nance), and even an Oscar nominee (American Graffiti’s Candy Clark).
Additionally, by updating the movie for the modern era, the remake combines the best elements of multiple major film genres. While maintaining the monster movie spectacle of the original movie (and even heightening the 1950s’ signature paranoia by replacing alien invasion fears with overtones about the government losing control of military experiments and putting American citizens in danger), it also draws in plenty of the biggest tropes of the slasher genre, including increasing the level of on-screen violence and centering on a strong female survivor.
Then there are the absolutely unimpeachable special effects. The movie’s effects team was overseen by genre icon Tony Gardner (The Return of the Living Dead, The Addams Family, Army of Darkness, Seed of Chucky, Zombieland), and they turned out a non-stop series of exquisite moments. Merely watching The Blob make its way around town is a pleasure, but for the gorehounds among us, the way the creature dispatches its victims allows for plenty of full-tilt body horror as they dissolve in its gelatinous mass.
‘The Blob’ (1988)Credit: Tri-Star Pictures
Oh, and did I mention the fact that Chuck Russell co-wrote the screenplay with Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead, The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist)? Every time you peel back a layer of The Blob, it has more gifts to give.
The Blob Deserves an Even Bigger Legacy
In spite of the fact that it is a top-to-bottom dynamic and entertaining movie, The Blob still hasn’t quite managed to cultivate the same amount of appreciation as its 1980s remake predecessors. It has never garnered a sequel (like 1989’s The Fly II) or a prequel (2011’s The Thing, which also serves as a quasi-remake), nor has it landed on many major Best Of lists (The Thing was honored by Empire, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, and Time Out, while The Fly was lauded by Time, The Daily Star, Premiere, and both Siskel and Ebert).
Both The Thing and The Fly are listed on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the 200 best horror movies of all time. The Blob isn’t. The Chicago Film Critics Association included The Thing and The Fly on their list of the 100 scariest movies of all time. But not The Blob. All three titles do garner a mention in Fangoria’s list of the 300 best horror movies of all time, proving that the fine folks at Fango have taste. But the fact remains that The Blob is terminally underappreciated, even in this day and age when it has received a snazzy Blu-ray release from Scream Factory.
One potential reason that the movie’s reputation hasn’t snowballed as much since its original release is the fact that Chuck Russell’s name isn’t often included in the conversation around the best horror directors of all time, in spite of the fact that he made the widely beloved Elm Street 3 just a year before The Blob.
This isn’t really anyone’s fault. Russell largely stepped away from the genre between helming The Blob and making the 2024 Witchboard remake. However, as his legacy is reassessed in the wake of his death, let’s make sure to remember The Blob. It’s certainly worth being watched and rewatched at the same level as any other title from his filmography.
So have you seen The Blob? Sound off in the comments below with your thoughts on the movie. And if you haven’t seen it, are you curious to check it out now?
