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The Blob [Blu-ray] (1958)
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Genre | Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror |
Format | Blu-ray |
Contributor | Steve McQueen, Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. |
Language | English |
Runtime | 1 hour and 22 minutes |
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Product Description
A cult classic of gooey greatness, The Blob follows the havoc wreaked on a small town by an outer-space monster with neither soul nor vertebrae, with Steve McQueen (The Great Escape) playing the rebel teen who tries to warn the residents about the jellylike invader. Strong performances and ingenious special effects help The Blob transcend the schlock sci-fi and youth delinquency genres from which it originates. Made outside of Hollywood by a maverick film distributor and a crew whose credits mostly comprised religious and educational shorts, The Blob helped launch the careers of McQueen and composer Burt Bacharach, whose bouncy title song is just one of this film’s many unexpected pleasures.
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 3.2 ounces
- Item model number : 2235
- Director : Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
- Media Format : Blu-ray
- Run time : 1 hour and 22 minutes
- Release date : March 12, 2013
- Actors : Steve McQueen
- Subtitles: : English
- Studio : Criterion Collection
- ASIN : B00AQ6J4XM
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,388 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #279 in Horror (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
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This is a pro-society movie, and its juvenile delinquent characters cause trouble mainly out of boredom, not out of some malevolent character flaw. Steve McQueen's drag-racing rival almost appears to be an enemy early on in the proceedings, but quickly joins in McQueen's campaign to save the town from the oozing invader once he sees McQueen's seriousness. A character situation that at first appears to be cartoonish suddenly develops depth and human realism.
The authorities' initial skepticism of the kids' wild claims is proved wrong--and once the threat is acknowledged by all, all conflict within the society disappears. This unification of purpose, and the validation of the "troublemaking" teens, becomes official when Aneta Corsaut's father breaks into the school to obtain the fire extinguishers needed to freeze the Blob. On any other day, breaking into the school would be considered an act of vandalism typical of a juvenile delinquent--on this particular day, it is a necessary action performed by an adult authority figure. At this turning point, it is clear that there are no lines of division between the young and the old.
This is an unusual film in that it acknowledges the perception of a "generation gap" but suggests that it is more imaginary than real, and that given a real crisis, people will naturally band together to restore order. "The Blob" is a perfect tonic for the kind of depression that generally comes with a viewing of "Night of the Living Dead" (1968).
Much has been made of the film's cheap but innovative visual effects. They are undeniably clever. A lot of the gravity-defying tricks we see the Blob perform were achieved with miniature sets designed to be rotated. The camera was typically attached to the sets in a very firmly "locked down" position (the lights had to be similarly attached so that the lighting remained steady as the room was turned this way and that). These scenes were often photographed one frame at a time as the room was slowly turned--the silicone blob oozed very slowly and its action needed to be sped up. In a way, this was similar to stop motion photography, but utilizing a blob of silicone rather than an articulated puppet. Even today, the effects are startling and bizarre.
A very good film with an exploitative-sounding title, THE BLOB is a must-see.
One thing my late wife and I always noticed about these movies is hoe the teenagers all seemed in their thirties. It was just something about how actors of the era looked and carried themselves but it always stood, particularly in this movie. `The Blob' starts in the darkness of the local lover's lane where a couple was parked. In typical fashion the guy, Steve Andrews (Steve McQueen) was less inclined to stop than his date, Jane Martin (Aneta Corsaut). At this time McQueen was already establishing himself in both TV and film and just before his breakout role in the iconic western, `The Magnificent Seven'. Fans of vintage television will recognize Ms Corsaut as Sheriff' Andy's girlfriend in `Mayberry'. This was her screen debut. While rebuking his advances the amorous interlude is disrupted by what looked to be a `shooting star'. Realizing it landed nearby Steve's hormonal drive is over whelmed by curiosity and the couple head out to investigate. Meanwhile, an old man (Olin Howland) stumbles across a spherical rock and proceeds to poke it with a stick. A good piece of life advice here is never poke a meteorite with a stick. The rational becomes evident when the rock breaks in half; a red goop speeding up the stick to cover his hand; it quickly spreads painfully up his arm. The Steve and Jane find the old man and decide to take him to Doc Hallen (Stephen Chase). Leaving him in the care of the doctor and his nurse, Kate (Lee Payton) the kids return to the site of the crash to investigate what it might be. Once they leave the blob consumes the old man and unsated proceeds to go for the doctor and nurse. There is a tug on the heart strings of the audience through the introduction of a small dog into the mix that Jane promises to her younger brother, Danny (Keith Almoney).
Steve and his friends are well known to the local law for their pranks. Steve was just caught drag racing in reverse so when tries to convince the cops about a flesh eating goo from outer space they find it difficult to believe. Sgt. Jim Bert (John Benson) is especially feed up with these troublesome kids but his boss, Lt. Dave (Earl Rowe) is more understanding. Unable to get the police to respond Steve and the other teens take it upon themselves to rally the town against the rapidly growing amorphous creature. They have little success alerting the disinterested adults but when the Blob oozes through the projection booth of the local movie house during a midnight screening of a horror flick. The follow it to a supermarket owned by Jane's father avoiding certain death by taking cover in the meat locker. Little Danny tries to shoot the creature with a cap gun while dressed in footy PJs, a real blast from the fifties, and the Blob chases the boy into a diner. Jane and Steve go after them but by point the Blob is huge; enveloping the entire building. In the climactic scene Steve realizes cold stops the creature and has his friends break into the High School to gather as many CO2 fire extinguishers as possible. Finally the Air force scoops the frozen Blob up dumping it in the Artic.
This movie did have a lot of notable features in it. One was the campy theme song `Beware the Blob' which was written by soon to be famous composer, Burt Bacharach. The pacing of the film was typical of the fifties creature features targeted to teens watching movies like this in drive-ins and local theaters. It was before the grind house era and therefore not overtly gory although it did possess a solid narrative. Another popular trope is the kids save the day. The teens watching greatly enjoyed watching their own generation saving their parents. It was the ingenuity of Steve, though by most to be a trouble maker, to figure out how to save the town. Finally a plot device that was extremely common in the fifties the U.S. military there to defending against any menace whether from across the seas or beyond the stars. Now available as a pristine, remastered high definition release we can revisit this classic part of our youth better than it was ever seen before.
And everybody has a personality. The local cops include a reasonable guy, an egghead, and an ex-GI with anger issues. The protagonist is badly rattled by his first sight of the Blob and can't explain it clearly to the cops. The protagonist's father believes unconditionally in his son's honesty. The love interest isn't some doormat.
I think the low budget of this film helped make it more interesting; the cast is mostly normal-looking people. And additional material on the Criterion disc show the very clever way the filmmakers got the Blob to move (model cityscapes on tilting sets, so gravity does the work).
So anyway, I came to scoff but stayed to applaud.
Top reviews from other countries
The premise of the film is simple. SPOILER ALERT Steve (yes it's his name in the movie to) and his girlfriend are on a date watching shooting stars. When a meteor lands near them they go looking for it. Instead they find an old man in pain at the side of the road with the Blob stuck to his hand. Little do they know it came from the meteor. They take him to the local doctor and that's when the problems happen. No one believes him because he is"just a kid". I will stop there as to not give away the whole story. But it is not complicated. Just a lot of fun.
The criterion Blu ray is perfect. The colours are bright. There is hardly any grain. It only has a mono soundtrack but it does sound excellent. This is the version you want.
How can you not like this film? Steve McQueen (Homer Simpsons hero), a giant blob from space and one of the groovest theme songs in movie history. All this and it was shot on colour film as well. Which was rare for films like this back in the 1950's