The Blob is a red, gelatinous, monstrous organism and the titular antagonist from the 1958 horror film of the same name, and its 1988 remake. It is an alien entity that grows bigger by digesting humans. The Blob cannot be killed, it can only be stopped. The only way to stop the Blob is to freeze it.
History
The Blob (1958)
The Blob comes from a small meteorite which falls on Earth. An old man finds it and pokes it using a piece of tree branch, making the meteorite crack and revealing the small blob inside. He pokes it again, but the thing climbs up to his hand, dissolving it. The old man is found by a couple, Steve Andrews and Jane Martin who take him to a doctor. Unfortunately, the Blob dissolves the old man, Nurse Kate and Dr. Hallen, growing in proportion. The couple try to alert the police, to no avail. At the same time, the blob is rampaging in the city, eating everyone in its path. The couple continue on trying to alert the populace, being heard only when the blob shows itself, now with gigantic proportions. While the police try to stop the thing with firearms, the couple find the thing's weakness when they use a fire extinguisher on it. The blob is frozen solid and Lt. Dave requests an Air Force jet to transport the Blob to the Arctic, where it is parachuted to the ice.
Sequel
The Blob returns when an oil pipeline layer named Chester Hargis returns to his suburban Los Angeles home from the North Pole, bringing with him a small sample of a mysterious frozen substance uncovered by a bulldozer on a job site. Prior to taking the blob to a lab to be analyzed, he places the storage container with the substance in his freezer, but he and his wife accidentally let it thaw, releasing "the Blob". It starts by eating a fly, then a kitten, Chester's wife, Mariane Hargis and then Chester himself (while he is watching a television broadcast of the film The Blob).
Lisa Clark, a friend, walks in to see Chester being devoured by the Blob. She escapes, but cannot get anyone to believe her, not even her boyfriend Bobby Hartford. Meanwhile, the rapidly-growing creature quietly preys upon the town. Some of its victims include a police officer and two hippies in a storm drain, a barber and his client, transients, a scout master, a farm-full of chickens, and a bar full of people.
At one point, Lisa and Bobby find themselves trapped in Bobby's truck with the creature attempting to find a way inside. In panic, the truck's air conditioner is accidentally switched on and the Blob retreats, establishing its vulnerability to cold as in the original film (though the characters, also as in the 1958 original, do not immediately make the connection).
The now-massive blob then invades a bowling alley and a skating rink (consuming dozens more people in the process). It is finally stopped when Bobby activates the rink's ice mechanism, freezing it. While the frozen blob is being filmed by a television crew, one of the crew's bright lights is positioned on the ground, melting a small portion of it, which oozes toward the sheriff and envelopes his feet as he is speaking on camera. The movie ends with a cliffhanger, not knowing if the Blob is stopped, as it is about to engulf the local sheriff Jones.
The Blob (1988)
Some things changed aside from the characters, as now the Blob is a result of a military experiment, created by Dr. Meddows, using some virus and outer-space radiation. But the focus remained the same, the Blob eating an entire city and growing bigger and bigger. Still the future potential threat comes from a human himself, a local scarred reverend who survived the Blob's attacks who wants the Day of Reckoning (commonly known as the Apocalypse) to happen according to God´s will as he now keeps a glass jar containing a small remaining piece of the Blob, waiting for a sign from the Lord.
Victims
- Old Man - Melted by Blob
- Nurse Kate - Eaten by Blob
- Dr. Hallen - Eaten by Blob
- Mechanic - Eaten by Blob
- Old Man's Dog - Eaten by Blob
- Projectionist - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Fly - Eaten by Blob
- Samuel (Cat) - Eaten by Blob
- Mariane Hargis - Leg melted by Blob
- Chester Hargis - Melted by Blob
- Deputy Zed - Eaten by Blob
- Randy - Eaten by Blob
- Randy's Girlfriend - Eaten by Blob
- Hair Stylist's Customer - Eaten by Blob
- Hair Stylist - Eaten by Blob
- Dog - Eaten by Blob
- Chicken - Eaten by Blob
- Chicken - Eaten by Blob
- Chicken - Eaten by Blob
- Chicken - Eaten by Blob
- Chicken - Eaten by Blob
- Young Hobo - Eaten by Blob
- Old Hobo - Eaten by Blob
- Hobo Wearing Eyepatch - Eaten by Blob
- Scoutmaster Adleman - Eaten by Blob
- Joe Ape-Suited - Eaten by Blob
- Leslie - Eaten by Blob
- Al Repairman's Assistant - Eaten by Blob
- Mike Pinsetter Repairman - Eaten by Blob
- Bowling Alley Manager - Eaten by Blob
- Henry Security Guard - Eaten by Blob
- Mechanic - Eaten by Blob
- Priest - Eaten by Blob
- Priest - Eaten by Blob
- Bowling Customer - Eaten by Blob
- Bowling Customer - Eaten by Blob
- Bowling Customer - Eaten by Blob
- Bowling Customer - Eaten by Blob
- Bowling Customer - Eaten by Blob
- Deputy Kelly Davis - Eaten by Blob
- Sheriff Jones - Leg melted by small Blob
- Can Man - Body melted by Blob
- Paul Taylor - arm ripped off/melted by Blob
- Vicki De Soto - Transformed into tentacles in car by Blob
- Scott Jeske - Eaten in car by Blob
- George Ruiz - Pulled into kitchen drain blood by Blob
- Sheriff Herb Geller - Eaten by Blob
- Fran Hewitt - Eaten in phone booth by Blob
- Phil Hobbs - Eaten by Blob
- Theatre Manager - Eaten by Blob
- Crazy Man - Lifted by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Movie Patron - Thrown by Blob
- Movie Patron - Eaten by Blob
- Sewer Rat - Pulled into water by Blob
- Eddie Beckner - Pulled into water by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Lifed by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Lifted by Blob
- Dr. Christopher Meddows - Dragged/eaten with sewer by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Explosion sewer by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Explosion sewer by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Explosion sewer by Blob
- Colonel Hargis - Crushed by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Crushed/electrocuted by Blob
- People - Crushed/electrocuted by Blob
- People - Eaten by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Eaten by Blob
- People - Eaten by Blob
- Man - Crushed with tentacles by Blob
- Flamethrower Soldier - Burned with flamethrower by Blob
- Deputy Bill Briggs - Pulled into shelf book by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Eaten by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Eaten by Blob
- Hazmat Soldier - Eaten by Blob
Nature of the Blob
The Blob is an amorphous, jelly-like creature who digests flesh on contact, assimilating it to grow larger and larger. Because it has no proper form, it can change it's shape and squeeze through narrow passages and openings. As it grows bigger, it can engulf and smash things under its weight.
Gallery
Trivia
- The titular slimy monster from the Goosebumps book "The Blob That Ate Everyone" was inspired by the Blob itself.
- In the 1958 version of The Blob, The Blob itself and its actions were seen as somewhat campy, but still scary, however, in the 1988 version it was seen as much more threatening along with the film's tone as his kills were far more gruesome and vile.