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THE BLOB (1958)

"Beware of the blob."

It creeps. And leaps. And glides. And even, you know, slides. Across the floor. Or so the jazzy theme tune by Burt Bacharach and Mack David would have us believe.

When I was younger this film had gained a notorious reputation as a horrific shocker, largely by people who were confusing it with the pretty good '88 remake (**^1/2). The original actually turns out to be a rather mild and campy B-Movie. Or is the whole thing a send-up of B-Movies? With its studio recreations of exteriors, dated Technicolor and ropy dubbing, it comes across as a television adaptation.

It’s quite interesting watching this one side-by-side with the 80s version as both are products of eras that retrospectively lack good taste. Some of the acting here is hokey, but not more so than the mullet-bedecked efforts in Chuck Russell’s take. The special effects are dated (especially the cartoon blob on the diner) yet in their own way no more dated than the Dream Quest Image sequences.

Differences between the two aren’t actually that many, the Kevin Dillon movie being a fairly faithful upgrade. Perhaps this is most notable with the Scooby-Dooish notion of teenagers saving the day, a hot concept in 50s America, a dumb one in 1988. Though the major difference is that this Steve(n) McQueen picture wouldn’t have the nerve to present an anti-authoritarian stance. Here the police are loveable guardians, on first-name terms with "the kids". The remake saw the blob reimagined as a man-made biological weapon. Here there’s no such subtext; the creature is merely a murderous parasite from outer space. If there’s any commentary to be gleaned, it’s seeing all-Americans hiding in a cellar from a growing red menace.

The Blob is a curiously middle-aged and exploitative attempt to ensnare a newborn audience. This was the decade where Rock ‘n’ Roll emerged, the term teenager was invented, and youth was about to find its voice. To this end The Blob finds it target not just by being a movie, but a veritable pop-culture phenomenon. (What bollocks I was talking there!!)

Up yours!!

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• My name's Grigg and I'm not coming on tonight like a mardy girl. (NT) -- Grigg, 21:03:49 06/18/01 Mon