The Blob (review)

THE BLOB (1958)
Dir: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
Writers: Irvine Millgate, Theodore Simonson, Kay Linaker
Prod: Jack H. Harris
Starring Steven (Steve) McQueen and Aneta Corsaut
CRITERION DVD release #91
16X9 Anamorphic transfer in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1
Let’s get straight to the meat and potatoes of this DVD; the digital transfer is unlike anything you’ve ever seen of this film before. The color just jumps out at you and the contrast in the night shots are just perfect and enhance the creepiness of the scenes.
It is one of the earlier Criterion DVD releases as you can see by the spine number of 91, and is just about the time they had started releasing their catalog titles with anamorphic enhancement which makes viewing this particular DVD on widescreen plasma/LCD such a treat.
The film is one of McQueen’s earliest headlining roles and you can clearly see in his performance shades of later mannerisms which would make him the coolest actor around in the 60’s and early 70’s; watch how he uses his eyes and breaks eye contact by looking down a lot (that particular detail would become his trademark in later films i.e. Bullitt, The Sand Pebbles and The Cincinnati Kid). His acting is a little over the top and doesn’t come across too well in the romantic bits, but he definitely shines over the other cast members. The flaw is to cast 30 year olds to play teenagers, it just makes it harder to believe and you shouldn’t have that issue in a Science-Fiction context where the nature of the material also has to be made believable for the story to work; the film can distract your attention because of this.
The story revolves around a shooting star that impacts near a mid-western American everytown, and unleashes an alien substance that will end up wreaking havoc in the city. The crash is witnessed by McQueen and his girlfriend (played by Aneta Corsaut) as they are romancing each other at “the point” (where 50’s teens and cars used to congregate in many Hollywood films of the 50”s). Thinking he knows where the rock crashed, McQueen heads out in the direction of the site.
A farmer discovers the rock and uses a stick to touch it, and it opens revealing a gelatinous mass inside which attaches itself to the stick defying gravity as it moves up and engulfs his hand; he screams in pain and runs amok among the trees and winds up almost being hit by McQueen’s car. The “kids” bring the farmer to the local doctor who tries to examine him and now we see the mass has grown larger and now covers the farmer’s whole arm. The main plot point is established right there, the thing feeds on human flesh and is getting larger as it ingests more victims, and if it is not stopped it will cover the town.
Once that point is established, it remains for the “teens” to wake up the town to the danger facing them and as this a 50’s film, the adults are hard to convince. The film becomes a typical exploitation rebellious teen story from then on as the kids create a loud commotion to wake up the adults in order to gather them all to McQueen’s fathers’ convenience store. The police, firefighters and townspeople al show up and believe the whole story to be a prank until “the blob” invades a local theatre showing a horror film double-bill sending the patrons screaming for their lives out onto the street.
Now convinced, the authorities take over the situation to restore calm and devise a plan to destroy the alien. McQueen discovers the creature is allergic to cold, so the teens led by the prim and sexually repressed school principal rush to the high school to gather as many Co2 fire extinguishers as they can carry; finding the doors locked, the principal (with utmost repugnance) breaks the window with a rock, and the teens cheer him on. He has committed the ultimate act of defiance of the time, breaking a school window; little did the nation know then that worst civil unrest was just around the corner outside their living rooms.
The blob is frozen and dumped in the Artic where it will remain frozen for ever?????
The story moves fast and is never boring to watch; it’s classic sci-fi still enjoyable to watch in late night TV land (make it a 42 inch Plasma).
The print shows very little damage, just a few speckles at the edges of the frame in a few scenes. There is no discernable digital artefacting that distracts the eye, however I’m inclined to believe there was a bit of image boosting and edge enhancement employed in the transfer. There are 2 excellent commentary tracts, one by producer Jack Harris and film historian Bruce Eder which is really great, it covers most aspects of the production and his memories of working with McQueen (which proved to be very difficult indeed); one of the better commentaries I’ve heard a producer give regarding a film. The second track is with the director Yeaworth and actor Tony Fields which is OK, but not as entertaining as Harris. There is an image gallery that collects photos and blob paraphernalia from a private collection owned by Wes Shank, and the original theatrical trailer; there is no making of included.
Fantastic to see Criterion restoring a “B” film like “The Blob” as if they were working on an Ingmar Bergman DVD. It would not end there for “B” films and Criterion as they recently released another such film, “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” directed by Byron Haskin to be reviewed soon, till then pick up this disc before it goes out-of-print as such Criterion titles have a tendency to do, and happy meteor hunting!
Mark Penny