I’ve seen The Blob dozens of times without actually seeing The Blob. Let me explain. When I was in elementary school the library had a series of books that essentially recapped classic monster movies. In that series was a book about The Blob. Whenever we had library time I would head straight for those books. Thus, my love of monsters, Halloween and everything spooky in between was born.
I’m ashamed to admit I just recently saw The Blob for the first time. I had decided that enough was enough and made it a point to get my hands on a copy of this classic film. Things started off a bit…odd. I wasn’t prepared by any stretch of the imagination for the song during the opening credits. Once the initial shock of that wore off I was immediately into this movie. Two teens, Steve Andrews (Steve McQueen) and Jane Martin (Aneta Corsaut), witness a meteorite crash and decide to try and find it. Unfortunately for the poor old man that finds it first, the meteorite is revealed to contain the blob. This alien life form then proceeds to wreak havoc across town in classic monster movie fashion.
I’m a big fan of this movie. I’m glad that it lived up to the two decades of expectations I had for the most part. The acting was on par with the other classic horror/sci-fi films of the time and the soundtrack was good. I dug the way the effects for the blob were pulled off and I definitely see why this film is held in such high regard. The one thing that bummed me out a bit is that there wasn’t as much blobby carnage as I wanted. I completely understand why there wasn’t more, and I don’t feel the film is hurt for it. The pacing is a bit slow at places, but overall I don’t have a bad thing to say about this movie.
It was made for just a little over $100,000 in 1958 and went on to make $4,000,000. A bad movie doesn’t do that and spawn a sequel, Beware! The Blob (1972) and a remake in 1988. The Blob is one of those movies that is considered a classic for a reason, and every fan of sci-fi should see it at least once in their lives. I’m ashamed to admit it took me this long to see it for myself.
Keep it creepy,
Mike
