Jacquelyn Masche Movies

After the phenomenal box-office and critical success of David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of The Fly, a series of big-budget remakes of '50s horror favorites rode in on its coattails in the late 1980s -- though none managed to rise above mere camp clones of their elders, albeit garnished with modern makeup effects in an attempt to draw modern teen horror-junkies. One remake that managed to live up to its cheesy inspiration was Chuck Russell's version of The Blob, in which the title goo crashes to earth and promptly begins digesting the residents of a small California town while growing to gargantuan proportions. The clean-cut teen hero originally portrayed by Steve McQueen (his first starring role) is replaced here with a rebellious outsider (Kevin Dillon) whose preppie rival (Donovan Leitch) for the affections of the cute heroine (Shawnee Smith) is quickly eliminated by the all-consuming space-gelatin. No sooner has the plasma menace set up house in the town sewers when a shadowy government Blob Squad shows up under the direction of the grandfatherly Dr. Meddows (Joe Seneca), to clean up the mess... or not. This high-spirited remake replaces the '50s "Daddy-O" conventions of the original with '80s cynicism -- not even likeable characters are spared from the slaughter -- and anti-government sentiment. It also pushes the gore envelope in ways unavailable to its low-budget parent -- e.g. the scene in which one victim is sucked through a sink drain was only hinted at in the 1958 film, but here viewers are treated to the entire bone-crunching ordeal. Though the quality of blob effects seems inversely proportional to the creature's size (some of the climactic "wall-of-blob" footage is painfully cheap-looking), the end result is more blob for the monster-movie fan's dollar. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This drama combines equal portions of martial arts and feminist drama. Well-muscled Terry (Graciela Casillas) is relentlessly pursued by the rich, obnoxious Mike (Patrick St. Esprit), who has sex and matrimony as his objective. On one occasion, Mike nearly rapes Terry, who is saved only by the intervention of Jason (John Martin), an old friend. Meanwhile, Mike is putting pressure on his father to foreclose on a business owned by Terry's father and the situation is getting desperate. So Terry challenges Mike, who is a karate champ, to a contest. They will have a fight; if she can throw him in the river, her father gets to keep his business and Mike will leave her alone. If she loses, Mike gets a night with her. Of course, Terry only has six weeks to learn how to defend herself but as fortune would have it, a miracle-working Philippine martial arts instructor has recently arrived in town. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi