The Blob
“Beware of the Blob…”
The face of drive-in horror turned gooey in 1958’s The Blob.
Actually, the title creature had no face at all—or arms, legs or any
other appendage for that matter. The Blob had only two distinguishing
characteristics: its insatiable appetite and its reddish, gelatinous
appearance. This faceless terror not only turned into one of the
biggest low-budget horror films of the late 1950’s, it also helped
propel a young Steve McQueen to stardom.
McQueen plays Steve Andrews, a teenager who likes to race hot rods
and make time with his best girl, but otherwise has a pretty solid and
law-abiding record. That small-town idyll gets turned upside-down,
however, when a strange meteorite crashes in the woods nearby. An old
hermit goes out to investigate, becoming the first victim of the
oozing, flesh-eating Blob.
Steve and his buddies discover the Blob, which grows larger with
each victim consumed, but unfortunately, the local authorities don’t
believe their far-fetched tale. Terror is piled upon terror, and soon
the Blob is too big to ignore. But is it too late to destroy it?
The Blob may have been the perfect drive-in movie, combining
its “misunderstood teen” elements with creature feature horror.
Audiences ate it up like a bowlful of cherry Jell-O, turning The Blob
into one of the most successful films of the drive-in era. Shot in
color, the movie was a change of pace from most low-budget,
black-and-white horror, and the presence of Steve McQueen helped make
it a reissue favorite for years afterward.
Fourteen years after the original, Beware! The Blob was released to theaters. Directed by Larry Hagman (I Dream of Jeannie’s
Major Nelson), the film was more campy and silly than the original,
featuring cameos from Dick Van Patten, Cindy Williams and Burgess
Meredith, among others.
The film went back to its horror roots for a 1988 remake, also titled The Blob.
This 30th anniversary do-over added late 80’s special effects and new
levels of gore (enough to earn an ‘R’ rating), but garnered little
attention in theaters. Nostalgic fans of the original were content with
video viewings of their old favorite, and their kids were too
enthralled by Freddy and Jason to pay any attention to a mass of
carnivorous goo.
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