Episode 62: Eric Anderson vs. ‘The Blob’ (1958)

The Monster Island Film Vault

Hello, kaiju lovers! Our season three theme, Ameri-kaiju, “creeps and leaps and slides and glides” along when MIFV MAX member Eric Anderson joins Nate to discuss 1958’s The Blob. This was Steve McQueen’s debut as a 30-year-old teenager dating the future TV wife of Andy Griffith. This classic of 1950s sci-fi cinema was an independent film produced by a studio known for making religious and educational films, which makes it doubly appropriate that the founder of Nerd Chapel (who’s also a substitute teacher) is on today’s episode. Being an influential indie film is also probably why, believe it or not. it’s in the Criterion Collection. The Toku Topic is a phenomenon related to the true story that inspired this kooky film: star jelly.

Check out all things Nerd Chapel here: http://nerdchapel.com/.

The “See the Goo” promo was written by The Monster Island Board of Directors. The epilogue, “Ozaki’s Message,” was written by Nathan Marchand.

Additional music:

• “The Blob” by The Five Blobs
• “Pacific Rim” by Niall Stenson
• “Chant My Name!” by Masaaki Endo
• “Numbness & Knives” by HoboKa

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org, including those by InspectorJ.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, and Ted Williams! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

This episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Timestamps:

• Prologue: 0:00-0:47
• Intro: 0:47-8:01
• Entertaining Info Dump: 8:01-15:12
• Toku Talk: 15:12-1:05:11
• Promo: 1:05:11-1:05:49
• Toku Topic: 1:05:49-1:25:13
• Housekeeping & Outro: 1:25:13-1:37:39
• Epilogue: 1:37:39-end

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Bibliography/Further Reading:

• Commentary on The Blob by Jack Harris and Bruce Eder. Criterion Collection blu-ray.
• Commentary on The Blob by Irwin S. Yeaowrth Jr. and Robert Fields. Criterion Collection blu-ray.
• Hendershot, Cyndy. “Monster at the Soda Shop: Teenager and Fifties Horror Films.” Images Journal, http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/features/monster/text.htm.
• Kershner, Kate. “What is star jelly?” How Stuff Works, https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/unexplained-phenomena/angel-hair-phenomenon.htm.
• Marquart, Sarah. “Strange & Unexplained Things in Science: Star Jelly.” Futurism, 27 April 2015, https://futurism.com/strange-unexplained-things-science-star-jelly.
• Newman, Kim. “It Creeps, It Leaps.” Criterion Collection (blu-ray booklet).
• Patowary, Kaushik. “Star Jelly: The Mysterious Phenomenon That Inspired ‘The Blob’.” Amusing Planet, 22 Nov. 2019, https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/11/star-jelly-mysterious-phenomenon-that.html.
• “Purple People Eater, The.” Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Purple_People_Eater).
• Schoell, William. Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC, 2008.
• “Star Jelly.” New Cryptozoology Wiki. (https://new-cryptozoology.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Jelly).
• “Star Jelly.” Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_jelly).
• Thomas, Archie. “What is Star Jelly?” Plantlife, 29 Oct. 2019, https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/blog/what-is-star-jelly.
• Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC, 2010.
• “How ‘The Blob’ Popularized Teen Horror Film.” Screenhub Entertainment, 2019 Oct. 23, https://tinyurl.com/3sxkbnh2.
• Wiki Pages on The Blob (1958):
  • IMDB (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051418/)
  • Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob)