The Blob
released 1958
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“The Blob” is an American, scifi, horror film produced by Jack H. Harris and directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and Russell S. Doughten. The Screenplay was written by Theodore S. Sinomson and Kay Linaker who used the original idea from Irvine H. Millgate. It stars the legendary Steve McQueen and Aneta Corsaut, Earl Rowe, Olin Howland, Stephen Chase, John Benson, George Karas, Lee Payton, Elbert Smith, Hugh Graham, Vincent Barbi, Audrey Metcalf, Jasper Deeter, Tom Ogden, Elinor Hammer, Pamela Curran, Ralph Roseman and Charlie Overdorff. “The Blob” remains a cult classic to this day and has withstood the test of time with at least one remake in 1988 and continues to inspire the horror genre.

The Blob IMDb webpage

“The Blob” takes place in a small town in the Pennsylvania of 1957. The story begins when teenage lovers Steve Andrews, played by Steve McQueen, and Jane martin, played by Aneta Corsaut, witness a meteor crash while at a place called Lover´s Lane. A strange substance leaks from that crash and begins to spread through the town like a mean rumor. Apparently, the substance in question is gelatinous in nature and consumes anything and everything it touches. It consumes things upon contact by dissolving them and that makes it a very dangerous alien life form. The movie is a chase where Steve and the townspeople must get away from the creature while trying to find what will kill it because not only does it consume everything it touches but it gets larger as it does and nothing seems to stop it. So, it is a life form that seems to be indestructible.

“The Blob” is a cult classic for a good reason. Some might say that the story is trite because it is so used ( However, I don´t agree). The truth is that it continues to influence the horror and scifi genres to this day. Think of all stories like the Aliens Film Franchise where the alien creatures blood is corrosive. The idea of an alien species that is spreading like a virus and consuming people or anything else for that matter is a thought that still terrifies today. In recently watched “The Blob” again and still loved it. It just doesn´t get old.

I loved some of the story elements that I felt worked so well like the chase or run from a cataclysmic disaster. The theme of a group of people, a town in this case, with a dangerous and strange problem they must all evade and solve is an element that works so well. All the unknowns in this story and how we, the viewer, are taken from a safe predictable environment, which was middle America of that time, and thrust into peril from the strangest of dangers was great storytelling. Now, this story has a hero but to appeal to more astute, modern audiences it needs a female hero and a more ethnically diverse cast but those were the times and we cannot undo those flaws. It still is a good story.

You have to consider that this is also a clever variation on the alien invasion theme and for the time that this film was released it was revolutionary. The idea that an unstoppable alien ooze crash lands on Earth and almost eats everything is a masterstroke of an idea. It wasn´t little, green men with laser guns or flying saucers disintegrating buildings. It was a blob of ooze that you could not even communicate with or know anything about its origin.

In a day with so much content, and good content at that, it´s easy to write off “The Blob” as an outdated relic but I really think that it is a good entertainment choice, even if you only see it once. There really is nothing wrong with watching classic television programs or movies from time to time. As a matter of fact, I think that it´s a good thing and it can be quite fun. Think about it, many content creators mine the archives and libraries of old films and classic literature. And if you want to be a creator or storyteller you should do the same from time to time.

So watch “The Blob” and enjoy it because it´s just good stuff.

John Ink2Quill

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