‘How do you get people to protect themselves from something they don’t believe in?‘
I haven’t seen many of the sci-fi B movies of the ’50s and ’60s. Mainly because I’m convinced most of them are rubbish. The preposterous theme song that opens Irvin S. Yeaworth’s The Blob did nothing to dispel this notion, and neither did the sinking feeling that I had actually seen large parts of this film before at some point. And yet, in the end, The Blob was a mostly enjoyable experience…
A blob from outer space takes over a small town. Local ‘teenager’ Steve Andrews (a 28-year-old Steve McQueen in his first film role) tries to warn the townsfolk, but they won’t listen damnit!
The Blob is everything you would expect it to be. Small-town America is wonderfully captured in a Twin Peaks sort of way. McQueen offers glimpses of the huge star he would become despite looking at least 20 years too old for the role. The effects are wonky but charming. None of the adults believes any of the teens, even when the blob is literally on their doorstep. It’s all good clean fun. It’s not an essential film by any means but at less than 90 minutes there is enough here to justify a single viewing.
If you like diners with jukeboxes and classic American cars (and gelatinous blobs) then The Blob is the film for you.