Quite a few classic movie monsters have come and gone over the years, and several have been given one different version after another as new filmmakers and artists have come along to add their own touches and alter the path just enough to make it interesting or send it down a road that leads to nowhere. Among the lot of them, however, The Blob is one of those that has been reconditioned and redone a few times, but not in a lot of ways that are easily recognized. One of the versions that made the most sense was a book, which was turned into a movie, that people are still torn about. If anyone remembers Phantoms, the movie based upon the book by Dean Koontz, they would realize that it was at least inspired by The Blob, since the formless creature that decimated an entire town was essentially a singular creature that could split its consciousness among many different forms. That’s a little more advanced than the original Blob as some might remember, and even goes well beyond the 1988 remake.
The Blob is a gelatinous mass that consumes everything it touches, or rather, consumes organic matter and CAN break down anything it touches due to its acidic nature. But attempting to reboot it yet again, this time in a form that’s closer to the original movie sounds like a great idea, but it also feels like it could benefit from other elements that have been introduced to cinema since the initial release of the movie. Imagine if the Blob was in fact an organism that, kind of like Pennywise from It, did fall to earth, but not from an extradimensional space, but a source closer to the original story. The Blob did arrive on earth in meteorite after all, but who’s to say that the creature that touched down in 1958 was the first one? It could be that the Blob, kind of like Venom, was another part of a collective race that had evolved to its gelatinous state and gone no further? Or maybe it was as complex as it needed to be and didn’t need to evolve any further.
After all, the Blob is a simple enough creature that, despite its weakness, remains a simple and very effective killing machine that can doesn’t need a lot of extra help to do what it does best. Rebooting this movie doesn’t feel like it would be too difficult unless someone decided to make it too complicated. One problem with The Blob is that it isn’t that complicated, and it does leave itself open for a great deal of interpretation, which essentially means that there’s a fine line to be observed when it comes to doing too much and not enough. The 1988 version definitely went for gore and terror and ended up being kind of a schlocky horror movie, which was kind of typical for the decade. But all the same, it did follow the root of the original movie and made it clear that there wasn’t too much going on. But if an idea is needed, there was a piece of the Blob leftover in the 1988 movie, and despite being one hell of a time jump, it could be that moving things forward would be a possibility.
Given the fact that the Blob is susceptible to cold and apparently can’t break through every known surface, it’s easy to think that there might be a way to contain it and even hold it in stasis for a while. But like all living organisms, the idea would be to make people understand that as simple as it appears to be, the Blob is seeking to feed, grow, and expand its influence. Perhaps it might be best to think of different ways that it might evolve and adapt. It might even serve to show that it can learn and that it can display an intelligence greater than what people might assume, especially after consuming so many different food sources. Given how simple the creature appears to be, it might serve to reboot this thing with the understanding that it can learn and evolve in a way that would make it a more credible threat than it’s’ been in the past. Add onto that the ability to shore up its own weaknesses and it feels as though this monster could be far more terrifying since a Blob that can be stopped by cold is still a big threat, but a Blob that can learn from its mistakes and defend its weaknesses would be a creature that might be even more effective as a horror monster.
Whether or not this will ever happen is a good question, but the possibilities are endless in their own way. Seeing The Blob return with the benefit of a few well thought additions would be all kinds of fun.
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