7 Lesser Known Facts About THE BLOB (1988) On Its 35th Anniversary

Before director Chuck Russell made The Blob, he directed the third film in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. It was his first feature film. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was released in 1987, a year before The Blob. Before Nightmare, Russell previously was a producer on six other films, including a horror film called The Hearse.

Chuck Russell and writer and director Frank Darabont co-wrote the remake of The Blob's script. If you've ever wondered whose mind thought up some of the most gruesome and emotionally wrenching deaths in The Blob, you won't be surprised once you find out that Frank Darabont had a hand in it. Darabont is known for directing The Shawshank Redemption, and creating The Walking Dead television show, and wrote that ironic tragedy of an ending in The Mist. I think people are still upset at him for that one.

Shawnee Smith is best known as Amanda Young in the Saw franchise, especially with the news that Amanda will return in Saw X. However, Smith played Meg Penny in The Blob and went on to star as Julie Lawry in the television adaptation of The Stand, the remake of Carnival of Souls, The X Files, and Repo: A Genetic Opera, among other roles.

Trying to list all of Bill Moseley's credits in horror would take another article, but after bursting onto the scene as Chop-top in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Moseley was cast in The Blob. As "Soldier #2", he suffers a gruesome Blob death when the menace gets inside his hazmat suit. Moseley has also starred in several films by Rob Zombie, like The Devil's Rejects and Repo: A Genetic Opera.

These days Jeffrey DeMunn is best known for starring in The Walking Dead and The Mist. His work with Frank Darabont also includes The Shawshank Redemption. But not only did DeMunn play Sheriff Herb Geller in The Blob, but he also played roles in The Hitcher and Christmas Evil. Poor Sheriff Geller thought he would get a date with Fran Hewitt. Not in the cards, my friends.

Actor Del Close had the honor of starring in the sequel to the original film The Blob (1958), Beware! The Blob, as Hobo with an Eyepatch, and Reverend Meeker, in the remake of The Blob in 1988. Another interesting fact about Beware! The Blob is that it was directed by Larry Hagman, best known as J.R. Ewing, on the television series Dallas.

The remake of The Blob has no sympathy for likable characters. It's pretty vicious and even goes after kids. The Blob (1988) does consume at least a major character who is a child. It is a tradition in the series that some of the most likable characters and one kitten don't make it. Candy Clark plays diner owner Fran Hewitt, whose death in the phone booth is horrific. The worst irony is that she sees the face of Sheriff Geller in the Blob as it is attacking. They are never going to get to go on that date.