There is a misconception that art, particularly cinema, becomes better as time progresses and new developments emerge, since many believe that having access to cutting-edge technology and more expansive resources somehow equates to quality and artistic merit. While this may be true in a few cases, no film has ever truly benefited primarily from an overblown budget or the most sophisticated devices used in its creation. Nothing makes this more clear than the science fiction films of the 1950s, the proverbial B-movies that were shaved into double features by studios who saw them as fodder to make some quick money, not realizing that they were covertly making history with these films, particularly since they were produced by some of the most extraordinary talents of their generation, people whose legacy remain more prominent than those who worked in supposedly more prestigious genres that have faded dreadfully over time. The Blob is one of the quintessential examples of the genre in its purest form, with director Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. being hired to shepherd the screenplay by Theodore Simonson and Kate Phillips to the screen, telling the story of a small Pennsylvania community that finds themselves terrorized by some alien lifeform that lands nearby, and is intent on consuming them – the more people that become its victim, the larger and more unwieldy it grows, with the responsibility to defeat this terrifying creature falling to a local teenager and his friends who immediately sense the danger. A film that has grown in both estimation and notoriety as time has progressed, and which has come to be oddly definitive of this genre, its difficult to not be entirely enthralled by this film, which remains a truly original, inventive work that proves the most compelling works are usually those that take a more unconventional form, no pun intended.

One of the more fascinating areas of literary discourse, and one that has been of personal fascination to me, is the concept of monstrosity and villainy, two ideas that are firmly planted within works produced in every medium, and which has its roots in subjects as diverse as existential philosophy, behavioral psychology and religion, all of which are used as the foundation to the precise elements that have made these stories so compelling, particularly when we realize the battle between good and evil is a tale as old as time. How this relates to The Blob remains to be seen, since this is a film in which the villain is, quite literally, a blob of gelatin-like matter that grows more powerful through consuming innocent people, absorbing them in their entirety to become bigger and stronger. A contemporary version of this story would layer the film with academic explanations and labyrinthine backstories that are rooted heavily in scientific fact, consulted by professionals and academics who provide the information needed to make it realistic. No one involved in this film seemed to have any interest in this, which was a common trend at the time, and the fundamental reason why science fiction films were far more compelling in the past. The Blob is a film that operates without an iota of rhyme or reason, choosing an absurd villain, and yet still somehow genuinely very compelling in a way that will surprise many viewers who may not be aware that something this bizarre can be so effective. The Blob evokes fascinating discussions on the nature of villainy, and the fact that this is spurred from something as seemingly offbeat as a sentient glob of matter just makes the entire experience so much more outrageous and effective.

The Blob is a compelling film based on how it handles its ideas – its not a comedy (although there are some very funny moments, such as the interactions between characters as the film progresses), and it resists leaning into the absurdity of the story as far as it could, choosing instead to be a more bombastic explosion of ideas. The film exists at the intersection of science fiction and horror, which have never been strange bedfellows, but still rarely work in tandem as well as they do here, influencing one another as the film gradually develops and becomes incredibly engaging. The director focuses on creating a film that is driven by its atmosphere – the plot itself is razor-thin and as paltry as it could be, essentially being 80 minutes of watching people absorbed by this malicious entity, while others attempt to find a way to get rid of it, to very little avail. The stylistic choices the film makes are quite fascinating in themselves – filmed in colour, the images take on an almost disconcerting appearance, with the use of certain hues (particularly of the titular entity, which is simultaneously repulsive and hypnotic) gives the film a distinct appearance and allows it to add nuances without actually needing to restructure its storyline. There are some deviations from the plot, mainly done to pad the film and allow it to reach feature length, but everything ultimately makes its way back to the central narrative, which is an entertaining blend of speculative fiction and grotesque horror, pushing boundaries that may seem tame from a modern standpoint, but were borderline revolutionary at the time.

There is a lot of filler between the more horrifying moments throughout The Blob, but rather than populating it with needlessly dense commentary, Yeaworth chooses to compile a series of moments in which we are given insights into the lives of these characters as they deal with this crisis. The film can be considered as much a scatterbrained science fiction horror as it is a stark, small-town satire in which various characters are used as motifs to examine American culture and how a community will respond to a crisis. There has been a concerted effort to rework the plot of The Blob as an allegory for much broad, real-life issues, such as the rise of Communism (a sentient red blob spreading throughout the heartland of America, consuming anyone who it encounters as it grows larger and more dangerous, and which can only be eradicated by being ‘returned’ to a cold, icy climate north of the border is a very obvious point from which we can derive deeper meaning) and the impact of external dangers on the lives of ordinary people. Whether we want to view it as such – and its certainly a very entertaining idea – is up to the individual viewer, but it is impossible to overlook just how enthralling The Blob is as a character study, especially when it is lead by Steve McQueen in his first major role – about a decade too old to be playing a teenager but yet still so exceptionally entertaining and as dashing and heroic as ever – and a wonderful cast of veteran actors and newcomers, none of which are particularly notable by contemporary standards, but remain active participants in this film’s continuous attempts to do something very different with already unconventional material and an approach that needed firm commitment from everyone involved.

Nearly seventy years later, The Blob is viewed as more of a punchline than being considered a seminal work of filmmaking (especially since the remake from 1988 as become more widely loved) – but yet taking the time to look at it as a fully-formed work all on its yields some tremendous insights and makes it clear that this is a far better film than many are willing to admit, for reasons that become clear throughout. There is a lot to like about this film – its only  80 minutes in length (although the plot does meander at a few points, proof that it was working from an already limited premise), the filmmaking is quite impressive given the era and the resources available, and the conceptual foundation, while perhaps not particularly revolutionary, do provoke a lot of thought. More than anything else, The Blob is purely entertaining – we can dissect its themes and what it represents, but even if just viewing it from a distance, we find that there’s a lot of charm behind the surface, and which only becomes more prominent as the film progresses and becomes more entertaining, something that we realize is the entire impetus behind it, and the primary reason for its genuinely subversive, offbeat energy that has kept it in the conversation as one of the most wonderfully unorthodox science fiction films for decades, and one that is as enjoyable today as it was at the time of its release.