The Blob (1958)

Second viewing; the first happened between the beginning of 1983 and the end of 1986.

A meteor crashes into Earth, releasing a strange jellylike being from within it which has the power to devour human beings and thus grow boundlessly. A boy in his late teens and his girlfriend encounter the blob's first victim and take him to a doctor. The number of victims increase, endangering the population of the small town where this takes place.

Except for one sequence, where a car takeover is supposed to occur but we only see what happens before and after that, and thus have to imagine the actual takeover -- except for that, this is a well directed and well written film, albeit a very low-budgeted one. The idea behind it is really terrifying, and a number of allegoric interpretations are possible: small town population being consumed by a monstrous lack of prospects which devours everyone, beginning with the young; or the opposite: small town sees everything that is authentic in it be devoured by the all-encompassing massification brought about by movies, corporations, etc.; and so on...

Rating: 51 (up from 33)