The Blob (1958)

Sadly Over-hyped

Brilliant and touching

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The Blob is a terrible film, poorly scripted, poorly acted and void of any fun. The actual blob is the only thing worthy of any regard. You have adults as teens and the elderly as the parents. You have a Brady Bunch feel of everyone helping and loving one another, in a silly setting that is suppose to be fun. There isn't even a kill scene. A policeman playing chess over the phone for kicks in a cheesy monster movie WHAT!

The Blob is probably the best of the teens & monsters sci-fi movies of the 50s. The 'crazy-mixed-up-kids' focus actually helps the plot; the teens are an integral part of the community, they might be a nuisance, but can't be ignored.It's almost as though the blob is sort a device for the Steve McQueen-led high-schoolers to win recognition and respect from the adults. It's the elephant in the room which literally becomes too big to ignore. At the same time the menace the blob represents could be evil incarnate. A reminder, perhaps, that out of nowhere (outer space, in this case) evil is ready to destroy us, and nothing is an effective barrier to its invasiveness until it's believed and reckoned with.I think the deadly force of the blob contrasts well with the everyday fun--the hot rod set messing around, pulling pranks, making out, watching creepy films, etc.. The adults have their nutty moments too--the 'way-out' party of 50s yuppies that one teen happens upon; not to mention the earnest old guy genuinely bewildered about whether to put on his Civil Defense or Volunteer Fire Department helmet when things start going bump in the night.The pacing is pretty good, McQueen's restlessness becomes contagious in this isolated town, leading to the iconic blob-bust at the theater and the diner. I would like to have seen a more elaborate set-up to the Blob's appearance. A coconutish meteorite in a tiny crater is about as other-worldly as coals in a campfire pit. I realize there wasn't much budget to work with, but couldn't they have made the meteorite bigger? With its majestic trail across the sky before crashing, one expects something at least as big as McQueen's Plymouth. The flip-side to McQueen's star performance is the generic nature of virtually all the other characters. At least Aneta Corsaut has a demure presence, but her younger brother is so wooden that I kept hoping the Blob would get him. Still, his buddies 'make the scene' convincingly with their cool rods and custom cars. Well worth more than one look, The Blob does the job for me.

The Blob was everything that a 1950s Teen/Horror flick should be. It was fun, goofy, contained awful dialog, and, yes, it was even entertaining, in its own cheesy way.A meteorite (from who the hell knows where?) containing a slimy blob of cherry-colored jelly lands just outside the town of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. This jelly-fied substance soon attaches itself to an old man's hand.Before long it completely engulfs the old man (clothes, and all). Then the same fate meets a nurse. And then it's the doctor's turn. And so on, and so forth - Until this once small creature (which acid can't harm) has grown in mass to a truly monstrous size - A size that nicely matches its equally monstrous appetite.Soon (regardless of its size), the blob is squeezing its way through small openings and (with the rapid speed of a true parasite) devouring anything and anyone who dares to stand in its path.In conclusion - One can only wonder what sort of a world the blob came from. I mean, when in its normal habitat, what could it have possibly fed on? This very unique creature was not like any other before it in the history of cinema. It neither had a skeletal structure, nor internal organs, nor a face, nor even a body, for that matter - Yet somehow the damn thing thought, breathed, and existed, and had a ferocious appetite, as well.All-in-all - I enjoyed The Blob.

This is a typical "horror movie" from the 50's era so it's gotta be good! Actually I prefer "B" movies that are so bad they are good, yet this was enjoyable without being in the "B" movie class. One of Steve McQueen's earliest rolls and while the script was a wee bit cheesy, he did a great job with it. Don't just rent this one, buy it! It will provide countless hours of entertainment picking it apart for errors as you watch it over and over. If you haven't seen the movie yet don't read this until you do! I'm pretty sure the objective was to destroy the "monster" but that seems impossible. The best they could do was freeze it. To keep it frozen they transport it to the Artic where is will "hopefelly" remain frozen forever. In the last scene we see "The Blob" strapped to a pallet as it is gently lowered to the frozen wasteland by parachute. Then the clouds morph into a giant question mark. As if to ask... Will it remain frozen? Apparently we aren't supposed to question the need for parachutes so it can be "safely" lowered it to the ice cap. After all nobody would want to cause any. Harm to the horrible monster they were trying to destroy.