Friday, April 3, 2009

The Blob

     This is a great stereotypical 50's cult flick. The Blob also takes the credit for having introduced Steve McQueen to the world as an actor and Burt Bacharach to the world as a composer, and even though the movie is 98% crap, we have at least those two things to be thankful for. 

      The story is quite simple. A "falling star" crashes near a small town. When investigated by an old man, a meteor is found, which cracks open, revealing an unidentifiable blob of goo. When the old man gets too close, the blob adheres to his arm and won't let go. He goes screaming into the street, where he's almost run over by a young couple in an automobile. They take him to the doctor, where the blob finishes off the old man and moves on to the doctor and his nurse. Every time the Blob consumes something (or someone) it grows bigger and bigger. It grows huge when it ambushes a bunch of teenagers in a movie theater. The young couple from earlier in the film (Steve McQueen and his female costar that hasn't done much since, and when you see her acting, you know why) are trapped inside a diner. 

      When blasted with fire extinguishers, the Blob retreats. They figure out that the blob hates cold. Everyone is asked to bring their fire extinguishers into town so that this gooey enemy can be subdued. Once the blob is frozen, it's shipped Federal Express to the North Pole where it will never thaw out and become a problem ever again. I guess they didn't take global warming seriously back then. Too bad because this would be an ironically perfect opportunity for a sequel these days.

     A pretty decent remake was made in 1988, starring Kevin Dillon in one of his first major roles after surpassing his older brother Matt Dillon as a sex symbol.  It also starred the gorgeous Shawnee Smith, who was no doubt the subject of many teenage crushes and actually made several good movies, even though unfortunately most people today only know her from a bit part in the first Saw movie.
 

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