Sci-Fi Classic Review: THE BLOB (1958)
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2024
- The 1958 original version of The Blob was a cultural phenomenon that managed to combine the sci-fi craze of the 1950's with the "teen exploitation" genre that was on the rise.
If you're looking for a "review" in the traditional sense, then let me just say I love this movie. This video, however, is a "review" in the literal sense (using the Miriam-Webster definition "a retrospective view or survey"), in that I'm going over the history of the film and its place in sci-fi cinema history.
In other words, please stop commenting on how my videos aren't what you consider "reviews."
#TheBlob #SteveMcQueen #Blob
00:00 Introduction
01:08 Synopsis
02:02 Production Background
04:45 Casting
07:11 Filming
10:11 Release & Legacy
12:09 Opinion & Analysis
15:05 Outro
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Apologies for the music cutting out during the title card near the start. Silly copyright dispute!
Also, the UA-cam compression makes it harder to see the smoke behind Steve McQueen's back, but I swear you can see it much easier in the movie itself.
We trust you!
I remember seeing the smoke when I last saw the movie.
The remake was terrific. Practical effects as good as The Thing
😊😊😊🎉😊The Toxic Avenger: No ticky, no washy
And Steve McQueen's talent elevates everything!
I love the Blob. It's a classic
The allure of THE BLOB was terrifying because the creature was an all consuming parasite that just rolled over its victims and they were totally consumed,never to exist again. Few monsters of movies had this stark quality of terror and horror,helped in the movie by being in color,not typical of low budget drive in movies of the time.
Growing up in the 70’s and being a faithful Saturday afternoon monster movie viewer, this was absolutely one of my favorites. It will always be special to me, thank you for this review.
It's always amazing how many classic science fiction films were rejected by major film studios!
Another great review of an oft forgotten Sci-Fi Classic!
The Blob would have got away with it too, if it wasn't for those pesky meddling kids! 😉😉
Not seen this for yeas and have been meaning to get a copy on disc and i have just done so (:
I'm a resident of Phoenixville and I can tell you that Blobfest is an absolute blast. The street that the Colonial is on gets closed for the weekend and it's a combo street fair/movie marathon. They do double features of The Blob and another sci fi film of the time, screened in the same theater where they filmed The Blob. We even have a reenactment of the runout scene the first night of the festival. Cannot recommend it enough!
I have to go one of these days! That sounds so awesome.
@@TheUnapologeticGeek It's a ton of fun. There are food and stuff vendors there as part of the fair and there are about 8 brew pubs in the two block area around the Colonial Theater.
Cult classic & enjoyable movie. Growing up during the 70s into the 80s this was routinely shown on local TV stations in San Francisco. Definitely part of the Halloween 🎃 movie fest. 1950s “Atomic Age” sci-fi horror was terrific! The sequel is watchable & I really enjoyed the 1988 remake. Looking forward to a new version/adaptation.
Great work again! Thank you!
I saw this movie when it first came out in 1958 at the Paramount theater in Atlanta Georgia with my seventh grade girlfriend Susan. We were both horror movie fans and when the blob theme song came on during the opening credits It sounded like it was the wrong movie! But then as soon as the meteor fell we knew we were going to see something!
Ha!! The blob love that movie even with its over acting and it’s slow moving monster.
I once read an interesting interpretation of The Blob, namely that it's a Christian allegory (the movie was produced by Christians after all). The Blob represents sin that "swallows" people and McQueen's character "witnesses" to the town's inhabitants to warn them of the danger posed by the Blob (= sin).
Interesting. I hadn't encountered that one, but it sounds like a pretty convincing interpretation. 👍
I see what you're saying. The old man gets it because he was an alcoholic (in another movie,) Dr. Hallen and Nurse Kate were performing a no-no procedure for young women in trouble, the mechanic was no doubt setting back odometers, and the projectionist and the 7 movie patrons should not have been at that trashy movie. And they froze The Blob to symdolize quenching the fires of hell. But, really, isn't a cigar sometimes just a cigar?
Loved the Blob, and Steve McQueen, Although McQueen went on starring in some great movies, there is another actor worth mentioning who also got his start in the Teenage Horror Genera. and went on to become famous in Hollywood, One year before The Blob, there was, "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957) Introducing Michael Landon. I was ten when I saw the Blob the year it came out., I thought it was great, The remake of The Blob was actually well done, Ironically the teen lead rides a Motercycle, McQueen style. Then again another fifties Sci Fi that has done well with the remakes was "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and, "The Fly"
Burt Bacharach? Holy moly I had no idea! Great fun film. The downed cameraman's shots truly added to the hysteria of the moment!
In Seattle is a group called Jet City Improv, they do a regular show called Twisted Flicks, where they take older movies, usually scifi, horror, and fantasy strip out the soundtrack and redub it live based on the audience suggestions. No two shows are exactly alike! My very first Twisted Flick was a Halloween weekend showing of the Blob. And you just haven't seen it until you've seen Steve McQueen turned into a pathological liar.
Sounds like a blast!
@Baked Biehn I don't the audience suggesting music, but character traits (Steve McQueen being a pathological liar or jingoistic hyper patriot in two different showings of the Blob, the Creature from the Black Lagoon being a CrossFit Bro, Lon Cheney Jr in the Alligator People being a raging alcoholic... Wait ). They will usually sing a new theme song for the opening credits; the one that sticks out most in my memory is the 2005 showing of the flick Horror Express was sung to the tune of Duran Duran's A View to a Kill.
I think it easy to see The Blob as a metaphor for the Red Menace. It is, after all, a red blob. (And now the song is going to be an earworm for the remainder of the day.)
I’ve had that song stuck in my head for two weeks!!
@@TheUnapologeticGeekYou! Get Donna Rice on the phone! I'll get a camera!"😅
Burt Bacharach! Who knew?
Ah... "Daughter of Horror".
If I only had a dollar for every time I've stumped people asking what movie was playing in the theater
when the Blob attacked...
It was released as "Dementia" in 1955 and bought by Jack Harris and released under its new title a year before he produced "The Blob".
Now that's how you self promote, kids...
Another great review, TUG, and I am relieved you found the communist peril implications not compelling. Nice to see clips in full color too, as my own unapologetic first and only viewing had been during torrential rain while on a washed-out holiday, having brought with me a tiny B&W TV just so I would not miss it!
Now, what about a review from you of my guilty pleasure - the other half of that old double feature. I think that IMAMFOS is very under-rated SF movie... 🤔
I remember the first time I saw The Blob. The opening song was confusing since it was unusual for a horror film. It is interesting how movies with "teenage" in the title exploded in the '50s. I remember a documentary pointed out it was the '50s when teenagers became important. The weight of numbers does this. In the '50s & '60s the sci-fi & horror genres tended to get dismissed by critics and adults in general.
Look forward to seeing and critiquing
I like it a lot more than the remake. There's a wonderful small-town ambience and a real affection for all the characters. The remake is not only another instance of 80s special effects overkill, but it has a mean streak towards its characters that really turns me off.
The Blob was the perfect movie monster. It was silent, could go anywhere, and if it so much as touched you, you were done for.
filmed in Downingtown Pa.
...and Phoenixville, PA. As of this writing, the town held their annual "Blobfest" , centered at Phoenixville's Colonial Theater. (I've driven past that theater on a few occasions, but never went to a Blobfest, despite my living a few miles SE, in King of Prussia, PA, best known for one of the USA's biggest shopping malls
I just came across your channel. Your content is great and I feel like you should be way more popular!
Thank you!
When I was a kid of 8-10 years old I first saw this one…and had nightmares and horrible daydreams for a year or two not bad for a low budget film
Re watch 😊
If they do make the remake for the film they better have the Blob theme song for at least a 1 minute long before the credits end
Seems plausible that the deaths of Shawnee Smith's boyfriend and the kid in the sewer in the 80's version could've been inspired by the still you showed of the Doc's fate from the original. That still is pretty unsettling for sure, wish they'd left the scene uncut tbh.
A well-executed and well conceived horror film with lots of terror and action. I really don't think it has much meaning beyond that, and that's okay.
There was also an EC horror comic about a man dying of cancer who goes to a witch to keep him from dying, so a gigantic living tumor pulsates across the backwoods... brrr.
Cool stuff 😎
great video, have you ever considered making a video about the remake??
Yes sir! It’s on my list
@@TheUnapologeticGeek 👍🏽👍🏽.
I remember this being the first movie where I was like "holy shit, they killed the kid"
& If they thought the 'Generation Gap' was bad in the 50s... Man! You aint seen NOTHING yet! & thanks for the Mr. Bacharach Factoid! I'm gonna add that to my Trivia Bank!
Yeaworth and company had just worked on a film called "The Flaming Teen-Age," which looks like something Ed Wood might have helmed. The lyrics to "The Blob" were written by Mack David.
@@Prilavolus Thanks!✌
Fun movie 😊
Looking forward to your book. Well there be an audio version for we visually challenged folk?
There’s nothing planned yet. If I sell enough copies, I might be able to afford it.
A pretty good movie but it's hard to take seriously with the blob looking so delicious and the fact that were intended to believe Steve McQueen is a teenager.
Around the same time there was the British film "X the unknown" Similar to the blob in black + white staring Dean Jagger as the American import.. Frightened 10year old me....
Don't forget Caltiki, the Immortal Monster as well! I think I saw that before the Blob. Scared me green as a child!
And even more obscure, Arch Obeler wrote and directed a horror radio anthology called "Lights Out," which did at least two stories about a "grey goo catastrophe" which destroys the Earth.
One of these, "Chicken Heart", was used in a Bill Cosby stand up routine which recounts how he tuned into the show when left alone in the apartment, thereby terrifying himself.
How's 1988 The blob ?
It’s different. I might do a video on it eventually.
from what i know it is more shocking.
the special effects are more gruesome like in „the thing“ (1982) and less cheesy than in the original. overall it is a darker interpretation of the story.
in one scene the blob even catches a kid and…
…well it’s a shocking moment.
With the Blob having been dumped into the Artic at the end of the original, I can see a remake as global warming thaws it out and rolls south eating polar bears and Canadians as it goes. Finally, it reaches Washington State and Microsoft HQ. and the Internet Cloud goes down.
I like this film and the Criterion Blu Ray looks sumptuous. I cannot stand Aneta Corseaut, she is simply terrible and it makes me cringe every time I watch this.
Read the Word of God.
Stop judging people.
Don't care about the damn critics and what they say about this film I think the monster was a good concept it was original not a puppet not a man in a suit no CGI back in those days the makers used one thing only imagination and the Blob was born always will be a classic thank you Jack H. Harris RIP.📽📽🎬🎬📽📽📽📽📽🎬🎬📽📽📽📽📽