The Blob (1988) Is the Pick of the Week

Over the last year, I’ve been getting into 1950s science fiction films. I’m talking monster movies. I’m talking Godzilla and Mothra, giant insects, radioactive goo, human flies, and alien invasions. There is something so incredibly charming about these movies. Sure, some of them (okay, most of them) are pretty lousy in terms of budget, acting, and direction, but quite a few of them were made by diligent craftsmen, capable of turning something pretty stupid into, well not great art, but something enjoyable to watch. Even the really bad ones are kind of fun.

The Blob is one of the better ones. It is cheesy as hell and the special effects are decidedly low-budget, but it is a hoot to watch. It is also notable for being the first starring role for Steve McQueen. They remade it in 1988 with much improved effects, a better story, and all-around production values, and they amped up the goopy violence. Neither film is what I’d call a great movie, but I enjoy them both for different reasons.

Shout Factory is releasing the 1980s version in a cool-looking Steelbook as a Best Buy exclusive. I can’t find any information on the extras but Shout Factory released a non-Steelbook version a few months back so one presumes they ported over the disk in a spiffy new cover.

Also out this week that looks interesting:

Memento Mori: The Jörg Buttgereit Collection (1988-1993): Arrow Video presents four films from the controversial German filmmaker. The films include Nekromantik (about a couple who decide to bring a corpse into their relationship to spice things up), Der Todesking (seven short films about suicide – one for each day of the week), Nekromantik 2 (more sleeping with dead people), and Schramm (two days in the life of a serial killer).

Billy Bevan: Silent Comedian: I absolutely love that we continue to get nice releases of old and obscure artists like this. Bevan made a ton of silent films and was quite popular in his time. He’s mostly been forgotten, but I love that releases like this enable his films to get seen in good quality once again.

Paramount Scares: Volume 2: Just in time for Halloween Paramount is releasing a few random horror films in 4K UHD. The releases are Friday the 13th: Part II, Breakdown, World War Z, and Orphan: First Kill.

The West Wing: The Complete Series: One of my favorite series of all time is finally getting a Blu-ray release.