THE BLOB (1958)—If it jiggles you can freeze it.

Cinema of Cruelty (Movies for Masochists)

On this week’s deep dive, The Cultists Present The Blob (1958). It came from outer space— a red gelatinous goo of surprisingly hardy structural integrity with one thing on its mind: slow, meticulous, all-consuming hunger-based homicide. Starring an already very adult-looking Steve McQueen playing the haggard but charming 17-year-old boy who cried extraterrestrial wolf, this plucky little flick tells the chilling tale of celluloid’s most enduring (and endearing) glob. In prep for this one, London and Benji travel back to the early years of a very Cold War to excavate the surprising evangelical origins of the film’s production crew; the folklore of “Star Jelly”; and why the 1950s were already talking about those melting polar ice caps...

Episode Safe Word(s): “climate change”