THE BLOB
(1958, Blu-ray released March 12, 2013 – MSRP $39.95)
THE FILM:
- “A cult classic of gooey greatness, The Blob follows the havoc wreaked on a small town by an outer-space monster with neither soul nor vertebrae, with Steve McQueen (The Great Escape) playing the rebel teen who tries to warn the residents about the jellylike invader. Strong performances and ingenious special effects help The Blob transcend the schlock sci-fi and youth delinquency genres from which it originates. Made outside of Hollywood by a maverick film distributor and a crew whose credits mostly comprised religious and educational shorts, The Blob helped launch the careers of McQueen and composer Burt Bacharach, whose bouncy title song is just one of this film’s many unexpected pleasures.“
WHO SHOULD BUY:
The Blob is short and sweet and gobs of oozy fun. Right from the opening titles, throbbing graphics, snappy pop song and all, you can tell you’re in for a B-movie good time.
It’s clearly a product of it’s era – a nuclear-age sci-fi flick where innocent townspeople run scared from a gooey, foreign red menace. It’s fairly camp and rarely takes itself seriously but thankfully McQueen is on hand to sell the gravitas. The unfortunate thing about this quick little piece of speculative fiction is that it seems like it gets cut off at the knees, the credits rolling just when things are beginning to get interesting. One could almost argue that The Blob wraps up just as it hits the end of its second act, leaving the third hung out to dry. But that’s really part of it’s charm.
Fun as it is, I’m not sure how well it would play to my sister’s kids. But to cinephiles and those who can appreciate films from a bygone era, The Blob is pure slimey gold.
THE BLU-RAY DISC:
I’m astounded at how great The Blob looks on Blu-ray. I mean, I shouldn’t be, given the fact that this is a Criterion release, culled from a new 4K scan of the original 35mm elements. It’s colourful, vivid, detailed and very film-like. What a joy to look at! The lossless mono audio track is also a pleasure to listen to, delivering remarkable dynamic range for such an old flick.
The Blu-ray could use more in the special features department, though. Outside of the trailer and a quite sizable collection of memorabilia (presented in stills) there’s really only a coupld of commentary tracks to dig into. The one by producer Jack H. Harris and film historian Bruce Eder is a little dry and less interesting than the director Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and actor Robert Fields‘ track, which is packed with great production detail and anecdotes. The disc package also includes a fold-out leaflet with an essay by Kim Newman.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Two audio commentaries: one by producer Jack H. Harris and film historian Bruce Eder and the other by director Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and actor Robert Fields
- Trailer
- Blobabilia!, a gallery of collector Wes Shank’s rare trove of stills, posters, props (including the blob itself!), and other ephemera
- PLUS: An essay by critic Kim Newman
