Review of The Blob (1958) by Bradley P — 06 Aug 2013

From the opening song, the audience should get an idea of fun and campiness in which the b-movie style guitar work accompanied by 50's harmonization create a fun and catchy tone. The film then jumps to a classically romantic type of music as it opens on Steve McQueen kissing his date. McQueen spots a meteor crashing off in the distance and chooses to go look for it. The only problem is, this wasn't just a meteor, it was... THE BLOB!. The first act plays out like a classic monster film, McQueen's character goes to investigate where the meteor landed after an old man gets some of the liquid clinging to his hand. It all elevates after that and begins growing in size and threat.

The film somehow manages to be an effective monster movie without victim after victim death scenes, the actual scenes with the jello like monster are sprinkled throughout the film and are not overused. The Blob is an entertaining film that is surprisingly well acted by mostly everyone in the film. McQueen is great here but the film lacks what could have been slightly more fun but with that said, the film knows what it is and doesn't try to be overly heady or extremely cheesy, it hits a happy, oozy medium of glory in its own right.