****       Beware of the Blob!

One of those movies made back in the 50’s about a small town being attacked by a strange creature and the local teenagers that save the place. Actually, this is THE movie that defined the cliché. An influential flick really, considering the amount of times it is referenced or rip-offed. The quintessential 50’s B-Movie.

Two teenagers are shown kissing it up in a car in the middle of nowhere, Jane and Steve (a combination of Steve McQueen the actor and Archie Andrews the comic book character), until they are interrupted by a meteorite falling nearby. They immediately investigate, finding an old man that made the mistake of poking it with a stick. Since he has this "blob" stuck to his arm, they drive him to the nearest doctor. As the teenagers are dinking around and getting in trouble with the law (who lets them off with a warning... again), the doc and his nurse get eaten by the "blob". Steve witnesses this, but seeing as there is no evidence (that they care about) left behind, nobody believes his little "monster story". Steve constantly tries to warn the public, but only succeeds when the now giant-sized "blob" attacks a local movie theater (it had quite a few snacks along the way). Steve, his girlfriend Jane, and two random extras get trapped in the local dinner with the blob trying to squeeze in. Electricity fails to stop it, but fire extinguishers seem to work. After freezing the "blob" solid they ship it off to Arctic, where it shall remain in it’s non-dangerous state forever (yeah... sure).

For the most part the plot holds up pretty well and gets the usual campy story-line done in a fairly entertaining way. This is helped by some pretty good acting and some very nice cinematography. The film condition remains crisp and colorful throughout the movie, but the situations and camera angles still make it somewhat scary. Well, as scary as a slow-moving shapeless mass can be. Still, if you imagine yourself trapped in a corner while this thing is bouncing towards you to dissolve you into nothing, well it can kinda be a little scary. Another part that helps are the "blob’s" special effects, which are done quite convincingly considering what they are working with. About the only complaint I have for this movie is how slow the middle section plays out. That Steve kid is running around town failing to warn the populace, and tends to fail mostly because he can’t get a descent description out. Yeah, it’s a "monster" that killed the "doctor", that’s all we get and if I heard that I probably wouldn’t believe him either. Just when you are about as frustrated as you can be with Steve’s personal inabilities, that’s when the "blob" shows itself and the story picks up again. The climax sequence is well-done in it’s typical grace, with people running down the streets and everyone else trying to figure out how to stop the thing. This is also where the effects really shine, and also where the "blob" itself gets to do it’s best work.

For the most part it’s a fairly well-done teenager/monster movie. Full of typical B-Movie sci-fi goodness, with plenty of parts that you can either laugh at or be scared by (your choice). Now they’ve made a sequel and a remake to this movie, but the first one is the only one that’s a true classic. It’s full of bloby goodness!

Fairly well-done plot

Rather good special effects

A catchy theme song

The "blob" is actually a pretty nifty monster threat

A true classic and a standard among B-Movies

A number of slow parts

The "blob" would have been much scarier if only it moved faster

Come on now... even I don’t believe your story!

Amazing how he remembers the doc but not the old man and the sticky creature crawling up his arm

As someone who as studied planetary science, I am greatly insulted by the inaccuracies inherent within the meteorite scenes

You know, the "blob" reminds me of a substance I used to play with as a kid

Credits