One scene that stands out to me from The Blob (1958) is the scene at the very beginning, when the old man discovers the Blob after it lands from outer space. The scene occurs after Steve and Jane see something fly out of the sky and crash a distance away right at the start of the movie. The old man comes out of his house, confused, as his dog is barking like crazy, to go investigate. He finds a space-rock-like object and pokes it with a stick, only to have a weird slimy substance emerge, crawl slowly up his stick, and suddenly grasp onto his hand, getting stuck. He panics and starts yelling and running. Steve nearly hits him in the middle of the road, which is how they discover the old man, setting the whole movie in motion.

One reason this scene works well is because of how the score is used to build suspense. When the old man steps out of his house, the music playing is low, but ominous. At this part of the scene, the atmosphere is mysterious and foreboding, as we the audience are not aware of what will happen, but we know something bad is coming; the old man does not realize this yet. The ominous score combined with the dog’s barking allow us to sense the danger that lies ahead for this old man, as he curiously and a little anxiously goes to investigate. Then, as the man approaches the rock and pokes at it, and as the slime (blob) crawls along his stick, the score slowly but effectively builds in suspense, as his expression becomes more and more nervous. Finally, when the Blob suddenly latches onto his hand, the score becomes louder and more startling. The building suspense reaches its peak and now the old man is completely horrified. The score now continues as panic follows, effectively communicating the state the character is in. In addition to the audio/score, the use of long cuts also helps to build suspense in the scene. Up until the Blob actually attaches itself to the old man, everything moves very slowly in longer, drawn out cuts. The man slowly walks through the woods, the rock slowly opens, the Blob slowly crawls up the stick, until it suddenly attaches itself in a faster cut, and from there the pace picks up. Much like the score, the camerawork also functions to build suspense into terror and panic in this scene. Finally, a little less obvious, but also relevant is the juxtaposition of the seemingly normal night (up to this point) Steve and Jane were having compared to the horrifying night the old man was having. To open with normalcy and then cut to this scene of unusual chaos creates a contrast which makes everything more suspenseful, especially when Steve and Jane then meet the old man in a state of near-hysteria (the acting could come across as over-the-top at this point though).

The combination of these elements, with the special effects and acting of the old man, create a scene that is, for me, probably the “scariest” in the film. I could see this scene scaring younger viewers especially more so than any others.