132. The Blob

Gee whiz, folks, it’s time for a brand-new episode of The Rotten Horror Picture Show Podcast, and this week Clay and Amanda are talking about one of the all-time greats of old-school creature features — The Blob from 1958! You know the one — that big ol’ red goo from outer space that slurps its way through small-town America, eating everything (and everyone) in its path. It’s the movie that made a young Steve McQueen a star and gave teenagers everywhere another reason not to trust meteorites. Clay and Amanda dig into the film’s low-budget charm, its clever special effects, and why it’s still such a perfect slice of drive-in-era horror. A monster that’s literally just a blob shouldn’t be scary — and yet somehow, it’s terrifying.

Now, I gotta be honest with you — as I am a teenager from the year 1958, this whole “podcast” thing? It gives me the willies. I mean, what is it, exactly? They say you listen to it on “the internet,” but I don’t even know where that is. I looked behind my radio — nothing. Tried turning the TV knobs real slow — still nothing. Apparently, it’s just floating around in the air, like… invisible radio waves, but for computers? And people are out there “streaming” it? Buddy, the only thing I want streaming near me is a nice cold root beer down at the soda fountain.

But I’ll tell ya, Clay and Amanda sure know their monster movies. They’ve got that hep-cat way of breaking down the scares, the science fiction, and the cultural panic of the atomic age. If you can figure out how to “download” it — whatever that means — you’re in for a swell time. Just, uh… maybe keep an eye on your record player. I heard The Blob likes to start small.

And be sure to catch our coverage of the remake over at Patreon.com/thepenskyfile!