Rob Zombie Set to Remake 'The Blob'
I leave the commentary up to you on this one
I am going to refrain from any kind of personal opinion on this one because it has just become, quite frankly, too easy and a rather tired conversation. Instead, here are the facts as reported by Mike Fleming at Variety.
Rob Zombie will introduce to theaters tomorrow Halloween II, a sequel to his 2007 remake and from what a TV spot this afternoon told me will be "the final chapter" in the Michael Myers story. Can that be believed? Following the sequel-remake he is set to remake the 1958 horror classic The Blob, a film directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth and starring Steve McQueen and one that is held in such high esteem it is also a part of the Criterion Collection.
Zombie will write, direct and produce the remake which centers on an object from space that crashes into a field, containing a red blob-like substance that absorbs the humans it contacts and grows exponentially. Zombie is said to be a fan of the original, but the Variety report says his version will be much different.
"My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing, that’s the first thing I want to change," Zombie said. "That gigantic Jello-looking thing might have been scary to audiences in the 1950s, but people would laugh now. I have a totally different take, one that's pretty dark."
Zombie will produce with Genre Company’s Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten, original Blob producer Jack H. Harris, and Judith Parker Harris of Worldwide Entertainment Corporation. Financing is said to be in place to create an R-rated film that will cost around $30 million.
Strangely, Zombie says this is a chance for him to break out of the horror genre telling Variety, "I'd been looking to break out of the horror genre, and this really is a science fiction movie about a thing from outer space. I intend to make it scary, and the great thing is, I have the freedom once again to take it in any crazy direction I want to. Even more than Halloween, where I had to deal with accepted iconic characters like Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. The Blob is more concept than specific storyline with characters, so I can go nuts with it."
Anyone have any thoughts out there in the audience?
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Awful
His passion for this film is somewhat interesting. He seems to really care about making good movies when he discusses his goals for moving out of the horror genre. It seems like he believes in this movie, however, he is not an established filmmaker yet, so we'll have to wait and see. At least it seems like he doesn't want to put his name on crap. That's somewhat encouraging.
I don't think I like any of the Zombies few movies, but I have to admit he has a talent for the morbid. I think this is a great fit for him, the movie won't rely on a punchy script, but more on the gory violence that Zombie is pretty good at cultivating. Looking forward to it…not enough to pay for it, but all the same.
So if his first change is to remove the "big red blobby thing", what would he use instead? A big purple blobby thing? I can't imagine how it could be a remake of The Blob without a blob.
Sidenote: I've just said "blob" in my head so many times that it sounds like I'm saying it wrong or it not actually a word.
This will either not happen or be easilly forgotten about soon after it is released on DVD.
Could be pretty good. Could be mediocre. Could be absolutely awful. Right now, I don't really care.
Rob,
Please get back with Sean, J and John and do a White Zombie reunion tour and new album. Stop remaking films…especially if you love the original.
Also, The Blob is not a "concept". It's a story about a blob from outer space that absorbs organic material and terrorizes a town. That's it.
I enjoyed the 80's remake of the Blob, and I see how another remake make work, even with a less uniform "Blob". I'm guessing however that Zombie might go for something closer to the effects in Carpenter's "the Thing", when it devours the sled dogs and is a mass of flesh and body parts. He does "borrow" heavily from other films. What worked in the original film(s) was setting the monster loose on an average middle-class town… Zombie doesn't seem to do much outside of grungy, grimey, desolate locales. I've not seen either of his Halloweens but the scenes I've seen from them never seem to capture the kind of suburban life that Carpenter sucessfully terrorized. I don't know that he's a good match for the Blob.
Has anyone, ever, sold out as fast and as cheaply as Rob "I'll never make a remake" Zombie?
His original work was far more interesting than his "Halloween" and I'm not hearing much has changed when people talk about "H2". This is disappointing, because as an original creative force in cinema Rob Zombie was worth looking for, and even if the movies were not great they stood on their own merits. Now, he's just another hired gun for a studio, making old movies into new movies that are forgettable at best.
@Danny K.:
Well, what do you mean by established. He has quite a few movies under his belt, always within the same genre and style. So in that aspect, he is pretty established. As a mainstream director, well he doesn't get brought up in the same conversations as Scorsese and Spielberg right lol
But as for what he does, people are very well aware of what type of movies he does.
In that poster McQueen looks WAY too much like Hayden Christensen.
He can do his own thing but PLEASE stay away from existing franchises. He's all wrong for Halloween and this. I hate this news!
chuck
I haven't liked any Rob Zombie movie that I have seen, so I'm not sure what to think about this one. I'm sure his wife will be cast in some role… as usual.
Zombie's a competent director and produce, just check out the 30 Days in Hell doc if you need convincing. His work is limited by his own writing and the editing of Glenn Garland. Too many scenes either have no purpose/logic or simply last too long. Add that to the one note story of the Blob (which is only a Criterion because it's from the 50s) and this film's outlook is bleak. I look forward to the trailer though.
@Jakob K.: No he does not. You take that back! :)