The Blob (1958)

The quintessential '50s monster flick sees feisty teenagers STEVE MCQUEEN and ANETA CORSEAUT battle a glob of unidentifiable gloop that has fallen from the sky in an asteroid. It's alive, nasty and has a taste for human flesh, eating its victims by dissolving them. As it consumes more and more, it gradually gets bigger and bigger, attacking some of the local teenagers. But no-one believes them and the bulging blob of alien goo threatens to destroy the whole Pennsylvania town.

Steve Andrews (McQueen) and Jane Martin (Corseaut) investigate a fallen meteor only to find old hermit (OLIN HOWLIN) blind with pain and with half an arm being dissolved in a strange, sticky substance. The youngsters take the old man to the doctor who prepares to amputate the afflicted arm but the messy mass of goo gobbles up the old man, the nurse and the doctor as the youngsters make their escape.

The kids tell the local police who refuse to believe them so Steve takes it upon himself to do something about the menace and, with the help of his young friends, he sets out to awaken the community to the expanding, space-age threat.

This was McQueen's first starring role (only his third feature appearance and the last time he was billed as Steven). He was 27 at the time, prompting US reviewer, Hollis Alpert, to note that the film boasted "the world's oldest teenagers." But, as Variety pointed out, the biggest attractions are undoubtedly, "the camerawork of Thomas Spalding and Barton Sloane's special effects." The monster was created using a silicone-smeared weather balloon.

The Blob, described by Time Out as "truly marvellous," was bought by Paramount and released as part of a B-movie double bill, supporting I Married A Monster From Outer Space. But it was soon clear that The Blob had captured the filmgoers' imagination, and became a major drive-in earner on its own merit. Having been made for $240,000 it grossed over $8 million in its first two years (when tickets cost 35 cents).