Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Blob (1958)’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​Whether or not you’re a fan of remakes/reboots, I personally have always been okay with them because I always hope that when a new generation of fans discover the rebirth of a classic story, it eventually motivates them to see where the story began, allowing for the new viewer to discover a new angle on the story and it might motivate them to recommend to others to see the original as well, giving new life to an older version of the story. If anything, it’s an idea that I hold on to dearly simply because it’s something that remakes have motivated me to do time and again, and I would venture to say that pattern of seeing the old after the new started after I watched the 1988 iteration of The Blob.
 
Because that remake was just about as cool as they come and well, after finding myself in awe of the special effects and gripping story, I was quite curious as to whether or not the original was anything like the remake and that motivated me to find that sucker as soon as possible and oddly enough, it was not an easy find at the time. Several of the video stores I frequented had their hands on the goofy sequel Beware! The Blob but I wanted the source, and after a little work with the fine folks at my favorite video store, I finally got my hands on the original 1958 film and was more than happy to pop that sucker into my VCR and be pulled into quite the quaint and strange little film.
 
For while the 1988 remake is a fast paced, nightmare inducing gore fest, the 1958 version is actually a pretty chill horror flick. Obviously, the general plot remains the same in that, a meteor from space unleashes a sentient (and hungry) gelatinous blob upon the unknowing citizens of a remote town, but that’s really the only threads the two films share. There’s no sub plot here involving weaponization of the Blob, just a bunch of teenagers who find themselves in quite the precarious situation once the Blob starts to feed and well, I have to admit, the change in pace made this movie fascinating when I first saw it.
 
After all, I really hadn’t been introduced to classic 1950’s horror at this point in my life so to see a story that quite frankly spends a lot of time focused on dialogue and fear was intriguing and while some chide this film for that, I love that aspect of the film and still love it to this day. Because it harkens back to an era where effects budgets were miniscule, forcing directors and writers to focus on character development and the moment and that’s precisely what we get here, until the final act that is when the Blob goes wild and tries to eat the entire diner in one fell swoop and really, the film’s low budget actually ends up working to its benefit.
 
Because the monster stays in the shadows for the most part, allowing for our imagination to run wild and when it does appear, it’s clear that it’s getting smarter as it grows in size after eating people and there’s something chilling about this silent assassin roaming around in the darkness, getting smarter and stronger by the minute and its lack of visibility makes the finale all the more worthwhile. Plus, this movie also features screen legend Steve McQueen in the lead role, and his straight laced performance helps sell what at first seems like a silly romp, thanks to the goofy opening credits and well, this classic is just a delight to watch and if you haven’t seen it, or the remake, check them both out since they each offer something special and this one, well it’s just a true classic through and through and one that I honestly need to re-purchase on Blu Ray to bask in its wonder once again in proper fashion. 

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