The Blob (1958): A Review (Review #2200)

THE BLOB (1958)

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Steve McQueen.

We all have to start somewhere. For future King of Cool Steve McQueen, that start began by facing off against red goo. I do not think that anyone will argue that The Blob is great cinema. I see it as a good drive-in movie, not quite self-aware but an enjoyable romp. 

Steve Andrews (McQueen, billed as Steven McQueen) and his potential girlfriend Jane Martin (Aneta Corseaut) are enjoying the nice crisp air and each other's company when they see what appears to be a shooting star. That star lands near the home of an old man (Olin Howland, billed as Olin Howlin). The Old Man gets close to this strange, glowing object and with a stick, cracks it open. The strange goo that emerges soon latches onto the Old Man's hand, causing him great pain.

Steve and Jane come upon the Old Man and rush him to Dr. Hallen (Steven Chase). Dr. Hallen is just about to leave for a medical conference but quickly agrees to look on this new patient. He instructs Steve and Jane to go back to see if they can find what caused this. They leave and after an informal backward drag race with local teens eventually go to the remote cabin. Steve and Jane manage to talk the other teens into going with them, after enduring a soft lecture by Officer Dave (Earl Rowe).

There appears to be nothing at the cabin other than the Old Man's dog. Steve and Jane take the dog with them. Little do they know that the goo that got onto the Old Man is now swallowing up everyone it comes in contact with it. Steve sees Doc swallowed up by something. Desperate, he goes to the cops. Dave is more willing to listen. Officer Bert (John Benson) stubbornly refuses to, thinking this is some oddball teen prank. 

The red glowing goo keeps growing. It keeps terrorizing those who are unfortunate enough to come across it. Steve and Jane, who had to sneak out of their houses to search for it, came close to getting swallowed up. They find their fellow teens at the theater. Reluctantly, they leave the Daughter of Horror screening and believe Steve's story of the invasion. Their efforts to literally raise the alarm first fall short. The Blob, however, has grown too big to ignore. What can stop The Blob? Who will live and who will die before it is iced?

The Blob is good, campy fun. This is the type of movie where you do not give much of anything in it a great deal of thought. I can imagine that The Blob would be a great drive-in feature, where you can delight in its blend of silliness and almost cartoonish manner. 

That The Blob is campy does not mean that it is a bad film. I thought that director Irvin J. Yeaworth, Jr. (with uncredited directing by producer Russell Doughten, Jr. had some surprisingly effective sequences. There is a strong cut between Steve's statement hoping that "Doc" is still there and Dr. Hallen confirming with his office that he is just about to leave. A POV shot of Nurse Kate (Lee Peyton) tossing acid at the Blob is also well-shot. 

The director(s) also build up some good suspense when the Blob comes into a mechanic's shop. The mechanic working under the car keeps prattling on about his plans, unaware that The Blob is nearby. This builds up the tension of when the Blob will claim its next victim. 

There is, however, only so much that the production team could do. At the Daughter of Horror screening, the audience supposedly flees in terror. However, you can see many of those supposedly terrified people running out with giant smiles and grins on their face. They were not terrified. They were clearly having a good time pretending to be terrified.

I think that is a reason why The Blob is surprisingly good. It is entertaining and unafraid to do so. Everyone is in on the joke. That doesn't mean that the professional actors are attempting to be frivolous with the material. The extras can be forgiven for making things overtly silly. The actual actors are not playing this as spoof. To be fair, they are not exactly playing things straight either. Instead, The Blob has a cast that is making an effort to take the nutty premise seriously but is also aware of how goofy it all is.

The Blob was Steve McQueen's breakout role, or at least his first major leading role. He was 28 years old when he made The Blob. Even with a very generous standard, McQueen looked too old to be a believable teenager. I would say that McQueen works hard to make Steve into someone thrust into a chaotic situation and opting to take charge. He, to his credit, does not attempt to send up the material. He plays it with sincerity, if not sincerely. 

Part of that may be due to how The Blob's screenplay by Theodore Simonson and Kate Philips constrains the character. McQueen plays Steve as what appears to be the film's version of a pretty decent, clean-cut teen boy. It does make it hard to see this almost 30-year-old man trying to talk to his fellow kids. Despite that oddity, Steve McQueen showed himself to be enthusiastic and determined. We can see him developing as an actor. It is, however, an unfortunate coincidence that his character shared his actual name.

The other actors did not rise above B-movie acting. Here, though, that is not a bad thing. It is as if everyone knew that The Blob was not meant to have great acting. There is one exception, however, in the acting department. Keith Almoney as Jane's baby brother Danny was absolutely atrocious. Every line delivery was dreadful. Every expression was blank. Yes, he was a child, so I cut him some slack. However, it does not say much about his performance when you want the blob to swallow Danny whole.

The Blob does not have state-of-the-art visual effects. They are, like much about the film, serviceable. What it does have that make it better is a bit of a surprise. The Blob has nice, jazzy opening music. The opening theme song continues that upbeat, jazzy mood. It is no surprise how good The Blob is as it was cowritten by Burt Bacharach (along with Mack David). I think The Blob captures what kind of movie The Blob is. 

This is nothing more than what I would call a delightful romp. The Blob is nothing to take too seriously, if seriously at all. The performances, especially from Steve McQueen, are not deliberately camp. They are, if anything, slightly tongue-in-cheek. The Blob is nothing more than a good time, with a sly sense of humor amidst all the extraterrestrial chaos. 

You can't help not ending up loving The Blob. 

DECISION: B+