After teenagers Steve Andrews and his girlfriend Jane Martin see a meteorite crash nearby, they set off to investigate. They come across an old man who seems to have some type of gelatinous matter stuck to his hand. They take him to Dr. Hallen who isn't sure what the substance is but Steve becomes convinced it's a monster of some sort after both the old man and the doctor vanished. As the creature consumes more and more people, it grows larger and larger. Steve's biggest problem is that he can't get anyone to believe him and continually faces sceptical policemen and angry parents. The creature finally reaches a size that cannot be missed and everyone wonders how they will possibly stop it. The Blob is a cult classic horror from the 1950s during the era when monster movies were frequently sought out and in high demand. The concept of this film is simple yet effective. Having an alien creature that absorbs anything in its wake, consuming people and growing bigger and bigger with no way of stopping it, is a pretty frightening premise. The special effects in this film are quite amazing with the combination of practical and hand-drawn animation, which was used to bring the Blob creature to life. Some of my favourite scenes in the film centre around this alien creature showing how clever and adaptable it is to the situations it's put in. Whilst being chased by the monster in one scene, our protagonists, Steve and Jane, hide in a room and lock the door, only to later find out that it can fit under the door where it slowly begins to pass through. With no other way out, it makes for a terrifying sequence as the two are forced to stand and do nothing as it seeps through the gap. The monster would go on to display these qualities in a similar situation later on during arguably the most iconic scene where it attacks a movie theatre. It starts squeezing through a small space from the projector room into the packed cinema room with many unaware victims below. All the people eventually realise what is going on and start running out of the theatre as the blob grows exponentially, following everyone outside. This film features legendary actor Steve McQueen, in what was at the time, his debut feature film and a leading role at that, which would go on to sprout his acting career and fame. I thoroughly enjoyed him in this film as he made for a determined heroic character looking out for others and trying to do the right thing. The Blob was quite unlike any other monster movie of the decade since most of the films then ended with the creature being destroyed or killed however due to its indestructible nature, the Blob is only temporarily stopped, ending up being transported to a place it can supposedly never escape from. Filmed in colour, this flick utilises its bright tones well with the bright red jelly-like creature, which easily stands out, however, most of the film takes place during the night, so we don't get a great deal of beautiful colours on display, but the creature makes up for this. I quite liked that everyone was willing to help one another, in the end, to fight back against the monster, despite being previously denounced as a practical joke. Friends, family and strangers all chip in to defeat the behemoth showing how united we can all be when under a massive threat, no matter the danger. One of the downsides of this film is that has probably one of the most annoying child actors used in film history. His voice was incredibly annoying, with some truly bad acting that actually made me cringe. Overall, this is an excellent monster movie from the prime era of the sub-genre, which brought an actor to fame, had superb visual effects and showed an unstoppable creature unable of defeat, hammering home its frightening premise. This movie gives such a brilliant depiction of 1950s America for those looking for an authentic glimpse into the time period, which I found extremely fascinating. A cult classic that cannot be missed, especially with the whole film being free to watch on Youtube. Also, look out for the 1980s remake, The Blob (1988), which can be located on YouTube too.
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