starring shawnee smith ; donovan leitch ; ricky paull goldin ; kevin dillon & billy beck the blob is the remake of the 1960's classic ( a term that i use very loosely to define the original ) about a really mean glob of goop that takes out anything that gets in its way . now the original version has the virtue of cheesy special effects which give it a kind of nostalgic campy feel . the fact that steve mcqueen was the star of the film doesn't exactly hurt it either . fast forward to the late '80's . steve mcqueen isn't in the remake ( this might have something to do with the fact that he had been pushing up daisies for years ) . nor is there any hollywood heavy hitters in the lead role . that is unless you count matt dillon's brother kevin as a hollywood heavy hitter . <NEG> the other thing that works against this new blob </NEG> is that special effects technology has improved dramatically since the original . the only things you need now to have great special effects in a movie are deep pockets . it looks as if the produces of the new blob had a couple of holes in their pockets . <NEG> the special effects in this movie are cheesy </NEG> , like the original's . unlike the original , they don't look campy , <NEG> they just look cheap </NEG> . one bright spot in the movie from a purely sexist point of view is shawnee smith . she is very attractive and can actually act , which is more than i can say about some of her costars . in terms of plot , a little ball of pink goop falls from the sky . seems this goop was an experiment that was being housed up on a satellite . anyway , the pink stuff has a taste for humans . the more people it absorbs , the bigger it gets . and it isn't the friendliest goop on the block either . anyway , it attacks this little town and it's up to the attractive local teenage population to stop it . not really , but that is how it seems . this version attempts to recapture the camp of the original . as i've already said , this new version of the blob <NEG> comes off more as cheap , badly acted , and badly written </NEG> than campy . in the years since this film was made none of the cast have gone on to greatness . although , star shawnee smith had a very tiny role in armageddon . the reason that we have never heard of any of them again is quite simple -- <NEG> they all stunk out loud </NEG> . although some of the film's smaller roles are filled with some actors that , while not big stars , are doubtless people that you will recognize from their supporting roles in other movies and tv shows . it also appears that the producers of the blob tried to compensate for the lack of a special effects budget by making the scenes in which the blob makes meals of the townsfolk as gory as possible . <NEG> sadly , it doesn't work very well </NEG> . if you want to see a big ball of goop terrorize a town , then i would say that you should skip the remake and rent the original . ( although that isn't so hot either . ) this newest version is <NEG> seriously lacking in any redeeming qualities </NEG> .
