The Blob

"It crawls. It creeps. It eats you alive!"

1958 1h 22m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 691

HorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man, then it growing to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.

“It crawls. It creeps. It eats you alive!”

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Cast

Steve McQueen
Steve Andrews
Aneta Corsaut
Jane Martin
Earl Rowe
Lt. Dave
Olin Howland
The Old Man
Stephen Chase
Dr. T. Hallen
John Benson
Sgt. Jim Bert
George Karas
Officer Ritchie
Lee Payton
Kate

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
Writers: Theodore Simonson, Kay Linaker
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

82 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $4M — a 36.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

68 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Blob Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., shot by Thomas E. Spalding. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ralph Carmichael. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alfred Hillmann shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. directs. Thomas E. Spalding behind the camera. Ralph Carmichael scores. Alfred Hillmann cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $4M — a 36.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
468 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Part of the "The Blob Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., shot by Thomas E. Spalding. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Ralph Carmichael. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Alfred Hillmann shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Steve McQueen and Aneta Corsaut and Earl Rowe carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "It crawls. It creeps. It eats you alive!".
11IMDB entry: tt0051418 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 22 themes, including "small town", "monster", "halloween", "film in film".
13Released under 24 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Thomas E. Spalding
Original score: Ralph Carmichael
Editing: Alfred Hillmann
Makeup / hair: Vin Kehoe
Runtime: 82 min · 1h 22m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $110,000
Box office: $4,000,000
Return: 3636% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Blob (1958)

Part of

The Blob Collection

The Blob is a formless, extraterrestrial creature devouring everything that approaches it.

Also by

Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2021-10-23
★ 8/10
A weird hungry red glob from outer space! Some teens (Steve McQueen & Aneta Corsaut) witness a strange Jell-O-like substance horrifically assault some people in a Pennsylvania town, but the police have a hard time believing their story. Despite its datedness, “The Blob” (1958) is worth checking out as a window into small town America in 1957 (when it was shot) plus the fact that it was Steve McQueen’s debut starring role, not to mention the movie is genuinely scary in a quaint 50’s way. My only criticism is that Steve is clearly an adult male and not a teenager or youngster. He was 27 during shooting, but looked at least 30. Larry Hagman did a sequel fourteen years later called “Beware! the Blob” (aka “Son of Blob”) after his rise to TV stardom with I Dream of Jeannie and before his return to popularity as J.R. in Dallas. It throws in quirky comedic bits amidst the serious horror and it is interesting to compare the two movies because of the social changes brought about by the radical events of the 60s. The sequel is an entertaining window into the counterculture of that time (specifically 1971 when the film was shot) and how the hippies or semi-hippies gelled with those of traditional culture. To me, it wasn’t a big deal as there’s always a “generation gap” between young and old in every decade, which can be observed even in the original film. A quality remake of the original movie came out in 1988 and, like “Beware! The Blob,” walked the balance beam between utter horror and amusing non-horror. It had a bigger budget compared to Hagman’s film, but the addition of a subplot revealing the creature's origins as decidedly earth-centric took away from the Blob's otherworldly and creepy ambiance. Still, it’s a worthwhile reimagining. The movie runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot entirely in southeast Pennsylvania in areas west of Philadelphia (Phoenixville, Downingtown, Valley Forge, Royersford & Chester Springs). GRADE: A-/B+
tmdb938365502024-10-29
★ 8/10
The campy theme over the strange title sequence may make you think it will be a very campy horror film that doesn't take itself seriously, you would be half right, but you'd also be half wrong. It is campy, but it takes its self seriously most of the time. Everytime I watch it it gets a few laughs and giggles out of me, I've been watching it since I was five and I recently watched it for the 7th time. I would give it a 7.4/10.