The Blob - Criterion Collection

*Possible Spoilers**
George A. Romero uses social commentary in his Dawn of the Dead as zombies are used as metaphors for American consumerism. The Blob is used more literally. Instead of zombies attacking, a ball of space goop falls from the sky and begins to devour people, getting bigger and redder with their blood as it does. You can't kill it only freeze it. You could make a case for this being a teenage rebellion picture along the lines of Rebel Without a Cause (Two-Disc Special Edition) but for me besides being just plain old B horror movie fun it was the consumerism angle I found most interesting and I could see influencing Romero. The Blob's consuming could destroy the whole planet and the people in it and our consuming as we deplete our resources and battle our own blobs (obesity epidemic) could destroy it as well. I found it even more ironic at the ending when they mention were safe as long as the arctic stays cold, guess were not safe. No need to remake this one again for our generation (88 Blob remake is also highly recommended) like The Body Snatcher movies, just pop in this 1958 version the message is scarier now then 1958. Oh No! BEWARE! THE BLOB COULD BE UNLEASHED 2008!!! DUH DUH DUH.

Criterion Features:
In the jacket you get an interesting write up and a good sized poster of the dvd art.

Special Features
Two Audio Commentaries: One by producer Jack H. Harris and film historian Bruce Eder; the other by director Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr. and actor Robert ("Tony) Fields.
Theatrical Trailer
Blob-abilia!: collector Wes Shank's rare trove of stills, posters, props (including the blob itself!), and other ephemera
Special Collectible Poster (mentioned above)

Watching the Criterion version of 'The Blob' I am amazed how vivid and brilliant the colors are on this very clean print of the film. This classic movie would look incredible in HD! The film itself is one of the best 50's Sci-Fi features of all time. From the opening title song which makes you tap your toes and wanna take bosa nova lessons to the "teenagers" who are clearly in the late 20's! You think your in for a typical teen movie, but...It doesn't matter......because the movie just works! Even the obvious miniatures don't take away from this classic 50's gem. Olin Howlin a great character actor has the honor of being in two on the best 50's Sci-Fi movie ever made....'The Blob' and 'Them' you remember him in 'Them' don't you?? "Make me a sergeant in charge of the booze! Make me a sergeant in charge of the booze!" This edition is very good, but it should of had some more features on it. This is a film that deserves a feature-ette at the very least and many of these actors are still around. I'm giving it 5 stars anyway because it does have a wonderful stills gallery, two commentaries and a beautiful DVD transfer. This is a must have for any Sci-Fi/Horror collector! "Beware The Blob"!

The blob needs to be brought back, if only because it's a metaphor for our time--because the only thing that's growing faster than this voracious blob of alien goo is our national debt. Only in this case unfortunately it won't be stopped by Steve McQueen.

The Blob is one of the rare "Un-B Movies" that's un-hoky and good enough to deserve better than that much derided epithet. The acting is excellent, the script solid, the special effects were good (it was 1958, one must remember), and the movie holds one's interest from beginning to end.

There are a few notable bits of trivia for the film. This was McQueen's first starring role, playing Steve the teenager (he was a little old for that at the time, but then you have to start somewhere). It sports a catchy and very un-B sounding soundtrack from then fledgeling Hollywood composer Burt Bacharach. The film was shot in and around Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, famous for where Washington and his army overwintered during the Revolutionary War. It's too bad the blob wasn't on our side back then.

The female lead wasn't cast until the day shooting started. The director, Irwin Yeaworth, said he was never especially proud of the film. In 1972, a comedy sequel was made entitled "Beware! the Blob", directed by Larry Hagman, who would become far more famous a few years later for his longtime role as J.R. Ewing in Dallas. The blob looks like big black Silly Putty, which is interesting because Silly Putty didn't come out for another few years, if I remember right. (Maybe they recycled the stuff from the movie? :-))

Ironically, McQueen turned town an offer to take 10% of the film's gross, deciding to take the $3000 salary instead, since he didn't think the movie would make any money, and he needed the money at the time to support himself. It ended up grossing 4 million, but interestingly enough, not until McQueen became more famous as a male lead and people flocked back to see the now famous film.

The whole 50s sci-fi B movie phenomenon is interesting; maybe it happened because Americans just wanted to go to the movies so they could worry about something else for a couple of hours rather then whether the Russians were going to nuke us. So we have bug-eyed monsters chasing pretty girls, mummies in cheap -looking mummy outfits chasing pretty girls, giant spiders, giant rabbits ("Night of the Lepus"), and giant grasshoppers terrorising more pretty girls, and so on. At least the B genre provided gainful employment for hundreds of attractive nymphets who might otherwise have never landed a job acting, as long as they could look terrified and scream loud enough to shatter the camera lens.

The movie is as famous for being Steve McQueen's first starring role as for being one of the best of the B sci fi movies. It's still worth seeing today and comparing with modern sci fi flicks which depend on spectacular special effect to carry the movie rather than the story, script, and acting. In many ways the old B movies did just as well and perhaps even better with a lot less to work with.

A meteorite crash lands outside a small American town and it hatches a strange red alien goo that consumes an old man's hand, A teenager named Steve (Steve Mcqueen) finds him and takes him to a doctor. Later on, the old man is eaten by the mass and it starts to be getting bigger every time it eats everything in it's way but what can stop it?

An all time classic Sci-fi horror b-movie that is one of the 50's best drive-in favorites and launched the career of Steve Mcqueen. The special effects for it's era were good even if the goo itself looks like strawberry jam. This is a pure cult classic that spawned one sequel and a fantastic remake in 1988, a must see for fans of Sci-fi, horror and b-movies alike.

This Criterion DVD has a stunning transfer and fine extras like audio commentaries, BLOB-ablia gallery of memorabila from the movie, trailer and little theatrical poster.

Also recommended: "The Blob (1988)", "The Deadly Spawn (a.k.a. Return of the Aliens)", "Killer Klowns from Outer Space", "The Stuff", "Men in Black", "The Thing (1982)", "War of the Worlds (1953 and 2005)", "Them!", "The Creature from the Black Lagoon", "Street Trash", "X-Files: Fight the Future", "Contamination", "Night of the Creeps", "Slither", "Critters 1 & 2", "Creepshow 2", "The Thing from Another World", "IT! The Terror from Outer Space", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1957 and 1978)", "Nightbeast", "Tremors", "Godzilla: King of the Monsters', "Xtro", "Aliens" and "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes".

I just saw this classic sci-fi/horror movie for the first time after my son's interest in it was piqued by seeing a parody of it on THE SIMPSON'S latest Halloween trilogy. I hadn't really planned to watch more than than the first few minutes of this people devouring goo story but was somehow soon drawn in by the characters and plot.

I think the film is so "absorbing" (pardon the pun) because the filmmakers do such a great job of capturing 1950's small town life. We quickly come to care about Steve, his girlfriend (played by the same actress who would later play Helen Crump on the Andy Griffith show) and all the other threatened folks. Steve McQueen may look more than a bit long in the tooth to be playing a teenager but you soon forget that as you root for him and his friends to defeat this ever growing mass of jelly. And besides who could resist that catchy theme song? I won't give the ending away to those who don't know what happens but I will say it is one more reason to worry about global warming.