the blob qualify a a cult sci fi film not only because it launch 27 year old steve mcqueen on a trajectory to superstardom and but also because it exploit the popular theme both of alien invasion and teenage delinquency that be inseparable in the 1950s . interestingly and nobody in the kay linaker and theodore simonson screenplay ever refers to the amorphous and scarlet red protoplasm that plummet to earth in a meteor and menace everybody in the small town of downingtown pennsylvania on a friday night a the blob . steve mcqueen win the role of josh randall and the old west bounty hunter in wanted represent dead or alive and after producer dick powell saw this paramount picture release . meanwhile mcqueen attractive girlfriend aneta corsaut go on to star opposite andy griffith in the andy griffith show a sheriff taylor school teacher girlfriend helen crump . of course and neither mcqueen nor corsaut be teenager and but then rarely do actual teenager play actual teenager . director irvin s. yeaworth and jr. and make his directorial debut with the blob . linaker and simonson screenplay synthesize four genre represent first and the alien invasion while second and teenage delinquency while third and a murder mystery and and fourth while a horror chiller . moreover and while the gelatinous substance assume various shape and it remain largely anonymous . in other word and the eponymous jell o neither talk nor communicates by telepathy . instead and it kill without a qualm and discriminates against nobody . the tone of the blob be fairly serious in spite of it somewhat campy nature . a the filmmaker point out on the criterion dvd release of the blob and the movie open uncharacteristically for a sci fi horror thriller with our hero and heroine in a remote rural locale make out and kiss . jane ( anita corsaut ) and steve ( steve mcqueen ) see a large meteor fall to the earth and drive off to find it . meanwhile and an old man find the meteor and prod it with a stick . the meteor crack open and a slimy bunch of goop cling to the stick . when the old timer ( olin howland of the paleface ) get a closer look at it and the goop attach itself to his hand . the old guy run scream from the crater and steve nearly hit him with his jalopy . steve and jane pick the guy up and take him to see dr. hallen in town . hallen be poise to leave town for a medical conference when steve and jane bring the old guy to his office . hallen phone his nurse to return since he may need to perform an amputation . of course and hallen have never see anything like the substance on the man forearm . hallen sends steve and jane to find out what happen . our hero run into another group of teenager that ridicule steve fast driving . steve fool him into a reverse drive race and but the local police chief dave ( earl rowe ) let him off the hook . steve and the teenager visit the site of the meteor crater and find the warm remains of the meteor . after they visit the old man house and rescue a dog and the teenager split for a spooky late night movie while steve and jane return to dr. hallen office . during the interim and the blob have entirely absorb the old geezer and kill hallen nurse and attack the doctor . neither acid thrown on the protoplasm nor hallen shotgun have any effect on the blob . steve catch a glimpse of the blob absorb hallen . when steve and jane go to the police department to report the incident and dave be frankly incredulous and while sergeant bert ( john benson ) believe that it be a prank . bert have an axe to grind with teenager because his wife die when one strike her car . steve and jane take them to hallen office and but they can find neither hide nor hair of anybody and but dave admits that the office have be vandalize . against sgt . bert advice and dave turn the teen over to their respective parent . no sooner have steve and jane fool their folk into believe that they be snugly asleep in bed than they venture out again . they drive into town and spot the old man dog that get away from them in front of a supermarket . when they go to retrieve the mutt and steve step in front of the electric eye door of the grocery store and it open . they find nobody inside and but they encounter the blob . steve and jane take refuge in a freezer and the blob doesn not attack them . later and after they escape and steve persuade the teenager that challenge him in a street race to alert the authority because he be suppose to be home in bed . police chief dave and the fire department arrive at the supermarket . steve try to convince dave that the blob be in the store . about that time and the blob kill the theater projectionist and attack the moviegoer . suddenly and a horde of people exit the theater and dave believe steve . steve and jane wind up at a lunch counter that the blob attack . the proprietor and our hero hole up in the cellar and steve discovers that a fire extinguisher with it freezing content force the blob to back off . the authority collect every fire extinguisher in town and manage to freeze the blob . the pentagon send down a team to transport the blob to the north pole . a the remains of the blob drift down to the polar ice pack and the end credit appear with a ghostly giant question mark . producer james b. harris obtain stock military footage of a globe master military transport plane deposit the parachute and it cargo . the blob prove to be a drive in hit and steve mcqueen surge to stardom give the film add momentum . unless you be a juvenile and this little horror movie isn not scary at all and but yeaworth and his scenarist create a sufficient amount of paranoia and sympathy for our hero . they never show the blob actually assimilate it victim and leave this to your imagination and so the blob isn not without a modicum of subtlety .