The 1950s drive-in sci-fi classic The Blob slithers its way to blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection. Originally released on DVD in 2000, this re-release offers an all-new digital restoration offering high-definition picture and sound, and supplemental material that includes two audio commentaries: one by producer Jack H. Harris and the other by director Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and actor Robert Fields, a gallery of stills, posters and props, and - a staple of all Criterion releases - a booklet featuring an essay written by British horror/sci-fi critic Kim Newman. Never before has the celluloid looked and sounded so - gooey!
The Blob is quintessential 50s science fiction and stars Steve McQueen, "The King of Cool," in his first leading role as Steve Andrews, a teenager who witnesses a fiery meteor crash into a field in the small town of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Upon further investigation with his girlfriend, Jane, Steve realizes the meteor contains a spineless creature from outer space that grows larger and pulsates more with each human it devours. Can Steve warn the town before everyone is sucked up? Beware the Blob!
Please mind the Italian dubbing on the soundtrack (doesn't it make the scene all the more stranger?), but if you look closely at the faces of some the people running out of the theater, you will notice big smiles smeared across their faces. And it's by no accident those smiles are there. Everyone is smiling because The Blob is fun.
And the fun starts right from the get-go as a wonderful, campy theme song plays over the opening credits as a slinky vortex of red circles spirals across the screen. "Beware of the blob, it creeps/And leaps and slides and glides/Across the floor..." The theme song is just as bouncy as the star of the film. But it's there where the novelty ends and The Blob gains its legs - not that this blob has the capacity to grow legs...
This film is another example of the prominent 1950s delinquent film, much in the same vain as Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Blackboard Jungle (1955), where the teenage characters of Steve and Jane are fervent in trying to convince people amidst severe parental suppression that something is seriously wrong in their small, quiet town.
The movie opens with Steve and Jane sitting in a car at night, parked in a dark forest on the edge of town. Set the scene for the typical make-out spot, as the two lovers - instead of kissing - are looking up towards the stars. And thank goodness they were because what they see next is a shooting star spiting fire across the sky and barreling straight into the earth. Our smug and prudish characters are curious and decide to see where the meteor crashed. The two are sidetracked along the way and caught drag racing with the local teen hooligans, and from here on Steve and Jane's credibility is tossed aside by parents and local law officials.
The Blob belongs to the so-good-they're-bad categories of films, also known as a B-film, where, the B - fortunately - doesn't stand for blob. On the surface, the film comes off as another low-budget sci-fi flick, where cheap special effects and bad acting thrive and are perfectly acceptable. But the beauty about The Blob is how serious the movie takes itself.
Besides the crude effects (from the sky the meteor looks tremendous, but in reality the crater it leaves could be dug by my 6-year old nephew), if an amoeba-like alien arriving from outer space wasn't believable enough, then would you accept an 28-year old Steve McQueen portraying a 17-year old snot-nosed kid? I didn't think so, but it's this blatant casting of an unknown, older McQueen that heightens the effective campiness of the film. And his terrible acting is more horrific than the blob consuming its first victim.
The Blob was filmed for a mere $110,000 dollars, and because of the non-existent budget, the crew incorporated innovative effects to get the desired look. In order to create a slithering, menacing, villain, the special effects crew created miniature replicas of set pieces. Positioned on a hydraulic press, the models, with the blob in place, were titled and gravity took its course.
If the blob wasn't made out of red-dyed silicone, then it would be made out of cheese. A slimy, crawling blob is the least threatening of all 1950s monster movies and comparable to a slug. There are two scenes that come to mind that show off the "prowess" of the slow-moving creature. One scene, where a nurse shuffles around a room to escape the jelly mass that's yet to move, violently crashes into a small, thin lamp, sending her, the lamp, and the entire power grid of the house down for the count. Another scene involves Jane in a closed supermarket, and when she sees the hideous monster, she is so overcome with fear, her body is inexplicably thrown into a display of tin cans.
How could anyone get swallowed whole by this thing? Two simple rules:
1) See the blob and run. If you do this you live. Just like the folks from the movie theater.
2) Touch the blob, you become the blob. See Exhibit A below:
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| Exhibit A |
Look at the blob for instance: the round red mass represents a substitution for the world, the color represents the "red scare," and once eaten by the blob, the creature spreads it gelatinous infection around the body, taking away any trace of mind, body, and identity. Isn't it political propaganda at it's best?
There are also illusions to Cold War paranoia throughout the film. When Steve and Jane are kissing, three other boys are playing the role of Rosenberg hiding in the bushes. When Steve and Jane report the creature to the police, Jane says she's not sure she even seen the thing. When the attacks of the blob are realized by the police, the sound of a siren is dispersed across the town. One man is awakened by the air raid, puts on a military helmet, and is ready to fight, unknowing of what lies ahead.
The themes are relevant today as they were 55 years ago. As was the case with Russia and Cuba in the 50s and 60s, North Korea currently claims nuclear missiles have their sights set on America. We are left to wonder at what costs it will take to avoid nuclear war. If it involves a flesh-craving alien blob, well, I'm all about that.
Yet still, nothing can save us from that silly, catchy theme song. I don't know what's worse: "Beware of The Blob" or PSY's equally ridiculous "Gangnam Style."
Eventually the townfolk learn how to stop the blob from destroying the simple way of life they all know: refrigeration from a fire extinguisher. [Insert dramatic cue] That's it. That's all it takes. But it doesn't kill the blob, it just freezes the thing rock solid.
The military air lifts the creature to the Artic where it is destined to spend the rest of it's existence. Add some pessimistic advice from McQueen: "As long as the Artic stays cold."
But that's a story for another generation.
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