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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Film.TheBlob 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Film.TheBlob, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license)
 
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{{quote| '''''[[Ear Worm|Beware of the Blob!]]'''''<br />
<br />
''It creeps<br />
''And leaps and glides<br />
''And slides across the floor<br />
''Right through the door<br />
''And all around the wall<br />
''A splotch, a blotch<br />
''Be careful of the Blob!'' }}
 
A horror/monster film from 1958, about a killer amoeba from outer space. The film is notable not only for its memorable villain, but also for being [[Steve McQueen]]'s film debut. It spawned a sequel in 1972 and a [[The Remake|remake]] in 1988.
 
As the film begins, a small meteorite drops to earth near a small town. It contains a tiny, jelly-like substance which quickly attaches itself to a nearby hermit, who is subsequently brought to town for medical attention. Unfortunately, The Blob grows and consumes the hermit and the medical staff, observed only by a pair of teenagers. Of course, when they try to raise the alarm, [[Cassandra Truth|no one believes them]] -- until The Blob attacks a crowded movie theater. Eventually deducing that the creature can be defeated only by extreme cold, the town collects all available fire extinguishers and blanket it in CO<sub>2</sub>, freezing it solid. In the end, The Frozen Blob is deposited [[Kill It Withwith Ice|deep in the Arctic]], where it is presumed it will remain frozen.
 
In the sequel ''Beware! The Blob'' (also known as ''[[Revenge of the Sequel|Son of]] Blob''), a construction crew working on a new Alaskan oil pipeline has uncovered the frozen Blob. Not knowing what it is, the construction foreman brings a small chunk of it home to southern California with him, upon which it promplypromptly escapes, grows and terrorizes the community, slinking through the sewers. Eventually entering the brand new bowling alley (and attached, still-under-construction ice-skating rink), The Blob is ultimately defeated by freezing the ice rink floor. A decidedly campy film, ''Beware!'' nonetheless plays many monster movie tropes dead straight, particularly the [[Cassandra Truth]]-spewing heroes and the [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] who runs the bowling alley.
 
''The Blob'' was remade in 1988, using the original story with a few minor changes:
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For generic monsters (and [[Cute Monster Girl]]) made of slime and other types of goo, see [[Blob Monster]].
 
Not to be confused with a certain [[X -Men]] villain, or any [[De Blob (Video Game)|Wii games]].
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=== ''The Blob'' films provide examples of: ===
 
{{tropelist}}
* [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]]: In the '80s version.
* [[Anyone Can Die]]: In the 1988 remake, this cannot be more true.
* [[Attack of the Killer Whatever]]
* [[Billing Displacement]]: ''Beware! The Blob'' was directed by [[Dallas|Larry "J.R." Hagman]], resulting in the recent [[Tagline]] "The Film That J.R. Shot!"
* [[Badass]]: Brian, Meg. Also Col. Hargis who elects to remove the grenade pins before getting munched so that [[Taking You Withwith Me|he can kill the blob.]] Unfortunately, it doesntdoesn't work.
* [[Blob Monster]]: [[Trope Namer]].
* [[Bloodier and Gorier]]: The '80s remake.
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* [[Camp]]: The '70s sequel.
* [[Cassandra Truth]]
* [[Death Byby Sex]]: The 1988 version. A guy gets his date drunk on alcohol so she'll pass out. The Blob gets to her, sucking her innards out, while he's mixing another batch. When he sees she's passed out, he goes in for the [[Date Rape]], only to discover there's nothing there but The Blob. ▼
* [[The Danza]]: Steve McQueen plays...Steve Andrews.
* [[Dawson Casting]]: 28-year-old Steve McQueen as a high school student.
▲* [[Death By Sex]]: The 1988 version. A guy gets his date drunk on alcohol so she'll pass out. The Blob gets to her, sucking her innards out, while he's mixing another batch. When he sees she's passed out, he goes in for the [[Date Rape]], only to discover there's nothing there but The Blob.
** Which is another [[Fridge Logic]] moment. The Blob is not one for subtlety, so why would it go to great lengths to hide itself inside a victim rather than ooze over every edible creature in the vicinity?
*** Too busy finishing digesting the girl's innards? To the Blob's credit, it doesn't appear until the guy touches her skin, and odds are the Blob wasn't aware of the guy's presence until it was obvious.
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* [[Drool Hello]]: In the remake, just before The Blob kills the quarterback.
* [[Government Conspiracy]]: In the '80s remake, this is the source of The Blob.
* [[Hey Its That Guy]]: [[Entourage|Johnny Chase]], [[Saw|Amanda Young]], [[Robo Cop|Emil M. Antonowsky]], [[Cowboy Bebop|Jet]], [[The Walking Dead|Dale Horvath]] and [[Return of the Living Dead|Jesse Wilson]] to name a few.
* [[Hockey Mask and Chainsaw]]: In a movie shown in a theater in the remake.
* [[Immune to Bullets]]: And pretty much any other physical weaponry.
* [[Infant Immortality]]: In ''Beware! The Blob'' a [[Scout Out|junior campers troop]] is attacked (offscreen) by The Blob. The scout leader is killed, the kids escape.
** Averted to '''brutal''' effect in the remake. The heroine rescues her child brother and his friend. Right before they climb out of the sewer, the friend is pulled underwater screaming. Moments later, he pops out of the water again. Half eaten. ''Still screaming for help.''
* [[It Came Fromfrom Outer Space]]: At least, in the original.{{context}}<!-- MOD: How is this movie related to the movie "It Came from Outer Space"? -->
* [[Kid Hero]]
* {{spoiler|[[Kill It Withwith Ice]]}}
* [[Police Are Useless]]: Subverted. In the original, the police are actually helpful once they are presented with proof of the teenaged heroes' (admittedly wild) story, while in the '80s remake, the town sheriff comes across as quite reasonable... {{spoiler|but unfortunately is one of the Blob's early victims, leaving his churlish deputy in charge. Who ''also'' comes around in the end and dies trying to help.}}
* [[Recursive Canon]]: ''Beware! The Blob'' has the Blob devouring a man while he's watching the original film on TV.
* [[The Remake]]: One in the '80s; purportedly another in preproduction.
* [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can]]: In ''Beware! The Blob'', a foreman for an oil pipeline construction crew brings home a chunk of The Blob from Alaska (where it had been deposited in the original film) in a sealed thermos.
** Also, in the '80s remake, {{spoiler|a (somewhat unhinged) preacher has kept a small sample of the Blob at the end.}}
* [[Shout -Out]] or [[Mythology Gag]]: The '80s remake contains a scene which hearkens back to the '70s sequel, in which The Blob slinks up through the sewer lines into a sink and pulls a hapless victim literally down the drain.
* [[Thematic Theme Tune]]: Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, of all people.
* [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?]]: What happened to the puppy?
* [[You Have to Believe Me]]: Particularly notable in ''Beware! The Blob'', in which the leading lady is not believed...mainly because she just keeps mewling "It came ''after'' us!" ''ad infinitum.''
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Criterion Collection{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Horror FilmsFilm]]
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Films of the 1950s]]
[[Category:The BlobCriterion Collection]]
[[Category:FilmThe Criterion Collection (LaserDisc)]]
[[Category:Horror Films]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blob, The}}
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