This isn't to say I don't remember the movie. Lets face it, in the annals of movie monsters, The Blob is one of the more memorable ones. Who couldn't fail to be impressed by a creature as abstract as a puddle of man-eating strawberry jam? From its first appearance in the movie, on the end of the old man's stick, when it seemingly defies gravity and flows UPWARD along the stick to engulf the poor man's hand, it impresses.
And more impressive still? Steve McQueen's performance as the lead hero, Steve Andrews. This was a low budget film, and the first leading role for the young McQueen. And even in this, he shines bright, casting a long shadow over his co-stars and elevating this movie from just another B-Movie, to a classic. There is a fantastic scene in the film, just a simple character establishing scene, which really demonstrates just how great McQueen is as an actor.
Steve and Jane have just left the office of Dr. Hallen under instructions to go and search for someone who knows the old man who they have brought with the Blob attached to his hand. But upon leaving, Steve is immediately challenged to a drag-race by the other local kids, who aren't going to let him go without racing.... So, Steve cleverly twists the race to his advantage, turning it into a *backwards* drag race.... But once he wins this, it attracts the attention of the local police. Just watch McQueen during this scene... as he hems and haws his way through a shady explanation of what he was up to. He manages to convey devilish mischief, embarrassment, coy charm, and impatience all at the same time. Watch his hands nervously playing with the steering wheel, as he tries to avoid getting himself or Jane arrested... or, apparently worse, having their parents called... This scene shows why he went on to multiple Oscar nominations.
By the way, McQueen ended up learning a stark financial lesson from this movie... when he went to make it, he was offered either $3000 dollars flat, or 10% of the gross, and he went for the flat $3000. Had he gone for the percentage, he would have made somewhere around $1.5 Million.
The technicolor helps set it apart as well. This was a standout film in a year of standout films. 1958 saw the release of such movies as; Gigi, Vertigo, A Touch of Evil, South Pacific, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Night to Remember, and The Defiant Ones.... 1958 also saw the release of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, which helped to inspire Star Wars. And in science fiction and and horror films, there were a several classics released; Bell, Book, and Candle (a personal favorite), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Fly, The Crawling Eye, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, and perhaps above all the others, Hammer's first foray into horror, The Horror of Dracula.
The plot is straightforward. A meteor crashes into a small town in Pennsylvania. and from it emerges an amorphous monster that engulfs and absorbs any living thing is touches, growing ever larger and becoming a greater and greater threat. Steve and Jane know about it and try to warn the town, but since they are just teenagers, naturally, no one believes them. Eventually though, the truth becomes known, and its a race to discover exactly what does hurt the Blob before it devours the whole town... and maybe more.
The special effects are top notch, the acting is MORE than solid, the script is tight... Its hard to find a missed opportunity in this film... Well, except for that horrible theme song. Written by multiple Oscar-winning songwriter Burt Bacharach, 'Beware of the Blob' must have been written while he was incredibly drunk one weekend. My guess is he suffered an alcohol-induced amnesia while he was penning the thing, and most likely forgot about it in an hour or two, and The Blob's producer found the lyrics scrawled on a cocktail napkin he found stuck to the bottom of a lady's high heel shoe and kicked under the piano at some party.
Don't miss it.
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