Horror films have their cult classics, and just like “The Thing” (1982) made Arctic abysses scary, the 1958 “The Blob” is revered for doing the same for small Pennsylvania towns and movie theatres. In fairness, I have to say that the film is not scary, not really (apart from two distinct scenes), and reaches more of a camp status. The film stars Steve McQueen in one of his earliest roles, and a gelatinous mass from outer space that starts to consume the local townsfolk. While not a film you will need to watch with the lights on, “The Blob” is a good throwback nonetheless.
In true 1950s fashion, the film’s heroes Steve (Steve McQueen) and Jane (Aneta Corsault) witness the meteor crash that brings the blob to Earth atop a secluded make-out point, though Steve promises he’s never taken another girl there. An old hermit with a dog discovers the blob too, although he’s not so lucky. I really love this scene, where Steve and Jane race to the town doctor, with the scared old man in their backseat with the blob attached to his arm. It’s quaint, and innocent, and says something about the time period. Today kids wouldn’t race to a doctor or even the police for an emergency in a film like this, and the military would quickly take over. The old man discovers the blob in a crater and pokes it with a stick, and the rest is history. The scene is actually quite scary, and shot rather well, working with limited to no budget.
“The Blob” is a suspense film, and what works about it is that, in true horror fashion, no one believes the teenagers who try to warn the town about the impending doom. It’s not hard to blame them. Town policeman Dave (Earl Rowe) catches Steve racing backwards against a bunch of town troublemakers in order to prove something to them. Steve and Jane promise to go to bed for the night, but are frequently found back in the action throughout the movie. However, it isn’t long before the town realizes, of course, that Steve and Jane are telling the truth.
Steve McQueen in a scene from “The Blob” ( Tonylyn Productions Inc., 1958).
One of the problems with “The Blob” is that it just moves too slowly, making its 86-minute run-time feel too long. There are some classic scenes, such as investigations of a doctor’s seemingly abandoned office, or a drive to the scene of the crater where the old man fell victim to the blob. However, most of the run-time just involves the teenagers talking to each other, cops discussing their boring job, or citing reasons why the kids are crazy, etc., with little appearance of the blob to invoke fear. For some stretches of the movie, you almost forget the horror is there, especially during one duration where we don’t see the blob for nearly twenty or thirty minutes. While tricks like this can be effective, here it causes us to forget the terror is really there at all.
The acting in the film is decent, with McQueen having the most screen-time and delivering the best acting. McQueen’s career speaks for itself, and here he carries the leading role with ease, becoming instantly likeable. Most of the other characters in the film are likeable too, from Lt. Dave, to the film’s other teenagers, to Doctor Hallen. The cinematography is good too, reminiscent of 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause,” with bright, steady shots in the darkness. The film takes place all at night, another point which increases the creepy atmosphere of the film’s more scary elements (such as an attack on a movie theatre that is as classic a scene in old horror as you can find).
The film is also devoid of much soundtrack, apart from an opening song that couldn’t be campier if it tried, and invokes fear through suggestion rather than feeble special effects. Here, “The Blob” falls victim to a common plight of early effects films, where the blob’s believability begins to crumble the more it grows in size. The blob covering a man’s hand is scary; however, it’s almost laughable by the time it’s big enough to cover a diner. However, the filmmakers smartly keep the blob covered in darkness for most of the film, minimizing any damage.
All in all, “The Blob” is a fun watch. It isn’t overly scary, is campy, but gets credit due to its cult status and originality. McQueen would go on to have a long career, and as horror movies would increase in promiscuity and gore as they progressed, this is a welcome horror remnant that, honestly, the whole family could probably watch this Halloween.
