Where is “The Blob” from in 1988?

The 1988 movie The Blob takes place in the fictional small town of Arborville, California. It’s a remake of the 1958 classic, but the setting was moved from rural Pennsylvania to this California location.

Quick Scoop

  • Film: The Blob (1988)
  • Setting: Arborville, California (fictional)
  • Origin of the creature: A mutated, space-bacteria biological weapon that was sent back to Earth on a meteorite/satellite.
  • Director: Chuck Russell
  • Release: August 1988 by Tri-Star Pictures.

The Story “Where It Came From”

In the 1988 version, the blob doesn’t just fall in as a random alien mistake. The plot explains that:

  • Scientists had sent bacteria into outer space to be mutated by radiation, intending to create a biological weapon.
  • The experiment went too far out of control, so the mutated organism was sent back into space to be contained.
  • Decades later, it returns to Earth when a satellite/meteorite crashes near Arborville , releasing the creature again.

So the blob “comes from” two places at once:

  1. Outer space – where it was mutated and stored.
  2. The crashed satellite/meteorite – which brings it to the town of Arborville, California.

Filming Location vs. Story Location

Even though the story is set in Arborville, California:

  • The movie was actually filmed in Abbeville, Louisiana.
  • The town in the film is fictional, created to fit the classic “small scary town” vibe of 1980s horror.

Why 1988?

The 1988 remake was released exactly 30 years after the original 1958 film. It updated:

  • The technology (satellite vs. meteor),
  • The “cold war” biological weapon backstory,
  • And the gore/special effects for 1980s horror tastes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.