The Blob (1958) Review

"There's nobody in here but us monsters."
-Sgt. Jim Bert



While looking for a meteorite, Steve (Steve McQueen) and his girlfriend, Jane (Aneta Corsaut), come across an old man (Olin Howland) who has a strange, red substance on his arm.  They take him to the doctor, but later, when they return, they find the man, the doctor, and a nurse all missing.  The town soon realizes there is gelatinous monstrosity on the loose and it will consume anyone that gets in the way.


What Works:

The Blob itself looks really cool.  It's a great, classic monster and is certainly memorable.  We also get a few really cool effects when the Blob moves.  The attack on the diner is great and the movie theater sequence is a classic for a reason.

The 3rd act of The Blob is very exciting.  There is a real sense of danger for the characters trapped in the diner.  For a moment, I was actually wondering if they would make it out alive.  It's a fun and exciting end to a film that isn't fun or exciting the rest of the time...


What Sucks:

This movie is incredibly boring.  Hardly anything of interest happens for the first hour of the movie and the blob is mostly off-screen.  Instead we get a lot of repetitive dialogue and filler trying to get the run-time to 80 minutes.  The Blob drags a lot and the first hour is almost a complete waste of time.

The characters are thoroughly uninteresting.  Steve and Jane have almost no personality.  All Jane ever does is whine that a dog might get killed.  All Steve does is say "I don't know."  It gets old and they don't really have any chemistry either.  Any scene with just the two of them I just wanted to end as soon as possible.

The other teenage characters are completely interchangeable and add virtually nothing to the film.  The only other characters of note are the cops and Jane's little brother, Danny (Keith Almoney).  The cops are pretty generic and repeat the same sentiments over and over.  One hates teenagers, the other thinks they might be telling the truth.  We get it.  But they had to go over this again and again.  As for Danny, I get that he's a little kid and I don't want to be too hard on his performance, but was he really the best actor they could get for the part?  Really?  I doubt it.  I could do better and I'm 24 and can't act my way out of a paper bag.


Verdict:

The Blob has some really cool effects, a decent 3rd act, and a memorable creature, but the majority of this movie is extremely dull.  There is rarely any excitement and the characters aren't engaging in the slightest.  The acting ranges from bland to terrible.  This could have been a great short film, but it doesn't work as a feature.

 3/10: Really Bad 

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