First up is the 1958 sci-fi classic The Blob. The film opens on two teenagers making out under a starry sky, on a hot Friday night, in the summertime. Suddenly a meteor streaks across the sky and crashes just beyond the next hill. The pair race to see it, but before they can get there an old man arrives at the crash sight first. He pokes at the meteor with a stick and it cracks open to reveal a pulsating gelatinous mass inside. Before you know it, the mass is covering his hand and he is crying out in pain. The two teenagers find the old man and take him to the doctor's house for medical aid. Left alone at the doc's house the mass consumes the old man, then the nurse and finally the doctor. It is now up to the two teenagers to warn a disbelieving town that there is a monster on the loose killing everything it it's path.
This low budget sci-fi thriller has become a classic film for multiple reasons. It features Steve McQueen in his first starring role and he plays the part with the same integrity and charm he would give every part. Filmed on location in Pennsylvania the film has a sense of reality and authenticity a studio film wouldn't have. And finally the movie is filled with memorable, iconic images. The blob oozing through the ventilation grate, or out through the projection holes in the movie theatre, the patrons running and screaming from the movie theatre and the mechanic attacked under the car are just a few of them.
At The Movie House rating ****
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