The Blob (1958)

A 30-year-old teenager and his 30-year-old teen girlfriend encounter a Jell-O™ space monster that eats several upstanding citizens and generally wreaks havoc upon their small town.

One of the best creature-features of the 50's, from the insanely catchy theme song (credited to The Five Blobs) to the question mark that caps off "THE END?" it's pure fun through and through. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that this movie scared me to death when I first saw it (on broadcast tv) when I was 7 or 8. I had blobmares for years. I was 12 when Chuck Russell's remake hit theaters and the posters alone were enough to rekindle the blobmares I thought I had finally put behind me. Those memories are reignited every time I see either movie, and this is the first time I've gotten to see this one on blu-ray. The transfer is fantastic and it's hard to believe I watched it so many times on EP mode VHS over the years...today was practically like watching it for the first time. Hope I don't get more blobmares...

There's something so staggeringly horrifying about a concept like The Blob that it amazes me there have only been 3 blob movies in the history of film. An unstoppable ooze that can't be reasoned with or spoken to, it exists only to consume and as it consumes it grows bigger and redder with the blood of its victims...that is some primally scary shit. The 50's trappings of the original may seem a bit silly in hindsight, but the creature itself is still scary and the movie still plays really well. At a brisk 82 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome and keeps the chills coming at a reasonably steady pace.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go downstairs to my kitchen and throw away all my Jell-O™. Better safe than sorry...