The Blob

Who would think Andy Griffith's "Helen Crump" (Aneta Corsaut) had a Steve McQueen movie in her past? But that is only one of several weird and wonderful things about the ultimate 1950s teenagers-battle-creatures movie, which might best be described as Rebel Without A Cause meets God Knows What From Outer Space. The Rebel is Steven McQueen (who would shortly decide that "Steve" sounded less prissy), a good boy with just enough wild to be interesting; the very wholesome yet understanding girlfriend is the aforementioned Aneta Corsaut. It was bad enough when their date was disrupted by teenage hot-rodders, but they are considerably more nonplussed when they encounter a gelatinous, man-eating What Is It that rides down to earth on its own hotrod meteor--and begins gobbling up townfolk right and left. But will the grown ups believe them? Of course not, what do they know, they're just kids!

The movie is teeny bopper at its teeny bopping best. The actors take the rather pretentious script very seriously, with many a soulful look into each other eyes, and the "adult" supporting cast probably says "Kids!" very third sentence or so. But the real pleasure of the film its creature, which is well imagined, well-executed, and often manages to generate a surprising degree of suspense. And although clearly on the cheap side (check out those miniature sets, guys!), THE BLOB is actually a fairly well-made film--and there's that catchy little theme song thrown in for good measure. The 40-plus crowd (myself included) will enjoy the movie as nostalgia, but that won't prevent them from hooting right along with the younger set at its whole-milk-and-white-bread 1950s sensibility, and the film would be a great choice for either family-movie night or a more sophisticated "grown ups only" get together. Make plenty of Jello cubes for movie snacking! Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This hugely entertaining b-movie starts off with an insanely catchy rockabilly song that perfectly sets the mood for what's to come. This movie never makes the mistake of taking itself seriously, which is what made it such an effective thriller.

The acting was actually pretty stiff, and the main characters aren't that interesting, but the director is really good at keeping this viewer in suspense. The blob was pretty ridiculous, but I still tensed up whenever I saw it on screen. And like I said in the summary, this movie has a sense of humour, which is important in low budget science fiction.

I also found the special effects to be clever. The Blob slithered under doorways, through vents, and up people's legs. It was kind of obvious how they did a lot of it,but I personally think that's part of the charm of pre-cgi effects.

Bottom Line: If you're expecting great acting and character development, skip this, but if you like b- movies, it's a masterpiece.

I have read many of the user comments and I think that the film is generally not getting credit for being a smart thriller. Why does the monster have to be on-screen to make it good? Hitchcock said that suspense plays better than action and although this film missed many opportunities to be more suspenseful, it's is at least not stupid.

In how many horror films today does the hero know the monster and its nature when he should? Steve knows what he's dealing with almost from the beginning and his frustration is not being able to convince the authorities.

Yet the authorities act in a totally credible way as well, even the annoying sergeant. Who would believe such a story from a bunch of "kids" (we know Steve wasn't a kid, but his character is).

One key example of the movie's intelligence: Steve is yelling to Dave to get CO2 fire extinguishers long after Dave has already gotten the message and dispatched people to get them. How many movies made in the 90s would be smart about this subtle detail?

I'm really tired of watching movies and having people behave in ways different than they really would in real life (the most irritating recent example is Tom Hanks falling asleep with the flashlight on in Cast Away). Horror films in particular do this in spades (which is why the Scream films have been so popular), but The Blob, to me, stayed pretty true to its characters, and in so doing made a smarter and better film.

Yes there are many flaws, perhaps biggest is Steve McQueen's very uneven performance, but I think they missed key opportunities for suspense that could have turned this above average, kinda scary, kinda funny movie that's a cult favourite into a true classic.

What a fun time can be had watching The Blob! A meteorite with a blob inside it lands, attatches itself to an old man's hand, engulfs the old man, a nurse, a doctor, and so on...until it is a huge mass of jelly-like substance squeezing through small openings and killing anything and everything in its path. A very young Steve McQueen plays the small-town teenager who just can't get any of the establishment(adults) to listen to him. The film was shot with a shoestring budget and the actors, with the exception of McQueen who shows talent and personality even at this youthful age, range from mediocre to downright bad(Doc Hallen for example), but none of that is overly important to the monster itself. Nothing like it had ever been on film before and some scenes stand out as decidedly very original and memorable. The Spook Movie festival in the movie theater and the finale at the diner are such classic scenes.

The Blob is a classic 1950s B-movie sci-fi flick. You probably know the story: two teens (Steve McQueen & Aneta Corsaut) see a meteorite hit the ground, and when they go to look for it, they run into an old man with some weird...blob attached to his arm. They take him to the doctor's office, and then go to find out what happened. From there, the blob spreads, eating everyone in its path. The special effects are cheesy fun, as is the story. There are a lot of great touches, like the cop who plays chess over the radio with a cop in another district. It's no masterpiece, but it has a special place in its genre. Steve McQueen is very good. 8/10.