The Blob (1958)

Starring - Steve McQueen; Aneta Corsaut; Earl Rowe; Olin Howlin & Alden 'Stephen' Chase Director - Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. & Russell S. Doughten Jr. (Uncredited) MPAA - Not Rated Cheesy. That one word could serve as my whole review for The Blob. I can't figure out if that cheesy quality was intentional, or if the filmmakers actually though that this film would scare audiences back in the 1950's. Quite frankly, I don't care how it was received in the 50's, this is the late 90's and the only thing that scares me about this film is that I might actually have to sit through it again some day. The only real high point of the movie is that it stars a young Steve McQueen. Which is the only reason that I would ever recommend anyone actually watch this movie. It is proof that even big stars had to start somewhere. A glob of goop falls from the sky in an asteroid. The goop is alive and it's nasty and hungry. And it particularly has a taste for human flesh. It eats people by dissolving them, and the more people it eats, the bigger the big glob of goop gets. It attacks some of the local teens, including McQueen's character. But no one believes them until it's too late, and the goop is so large that it threatens to destroy the whole town. I don't expect the same level of special effects here that I do from a film like Armageddon. But at least the producers could have made a little more of an effort with the limited resources that they had back when this film was made. I could never get over my feeling that I was watching actors running around and screaming as Jell-O was terrorizing them. Quite frankly, I almost expected Bill Cosby to end up being an evil mastermind controlling the creature. But I digress. Acting abilities don't seem to have been a big consideration for the producers when they cast this turkey. It's not that the actors are bad; it's just that I thought I was watching a rerun of the Andy Griffith show. Everyone had that gee whiz sort of attitude. I don't know if everyone in a small town in the fifties had that goofy attitude, but I would have hoped that someone would have gotten slightly pissed off when this overgrown reject from the dessert menu started destroying their town. Alas, that was not to be. I prefer to eat Jell-O to watching it star as the lead in a motion picture. This is a movie that deserves to be in the cooking section of your local video store as opposed to the horror section. The best thing about this movie was its very corny (but kinda catchy) opening theme song. When the best part of the movie occurs in the first 3 minutes, it's usually a good idea to avoid it. 5/10 Reviewed September 21, 1998 by Joe Chamberlain