Rebel With a Jelly Cause

THE BLOB (1958)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I never found anything scary about a gooey mass of Jello crash landing on Earth and devouring everything in its path. Still, this is something of a cult film in the 50's sci-fi B movie genre and you could do worse, but you could also do better.

Steve McQueen, in his acting debut, is a young teenager named Steve who is on an innocent date with his girlfriend, Jane (Anita Courseaut). They observe a meteor crashing in the distance and they go investigate. An old-timer's hand is sucked by this blob from the meteor and almost runs into the teens' car. Before long a doctor and his assistant are involved, a cute little pooch, the disbelieving policemen who do not believe Steve's story, and a movie theater and diner (50's consumerist icons) are being corrupted by the pink slime that is slowly growing. The police think it is all a prank except for Lt. Dave (Earl Rowe), who doesn't think Steve has a lying bone in his body.

For 50's fans of the Rebel Without a Cause variety, there is a bizarre scene of a chicken race except it involves the cars driving in reverse. Steve McQueen gives the best performance in the film, which may not be saying a whole lot considering the indifferent, undistinguished cast. I suppose the picture is mild fun for a while, though it stalls frequently and takes an eternity to get to its slimy climax. "The Blob" is a 50's replica of a B-movie though it is considerably bland and played far too straight. I wanted to laugh when McQueen calls for the police's attention by honking on car horns and issuing an air raid siren! How did he manage to get an air raid siren to go off?