Blobfest oozes through Phoenixville for its 25th anniversary celebration

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The sci-fi classic "The Blob" slimed its way into movie theaters in 1958 — and into one Chester County movie house. While the movie has a few years to go before its 70th anniversary, the festival honoring "The Blob" has reached a milestone of its own.

Since 1999, fans of sci-fi, horror and camp have gathered annually in Phoenixville for Blobfest , a weekend-long festival that celebrates the genre and, specifically, "The Blob."

For the uninitiated, "The Blob" is about a small town under attack from a gelatinous alien blob that consumes anything and everything in its path. The townspeople are helpless as the being grows in size with everything it devours, until a courageous teenager figures out a way to fight it.

Many movie buffs know "The Blob" best as the first lead role for 28-year-old Steve McQueen — who would ultimately become one of the most popular stars in Hollywood with roles in "Bullitt" and "The Towering Inferno."

For Chester County, however, it's a point of pride. "'The Blob' was made by a production company that's right down the road from Phoenixville, in Chester Springs," said Drew Boardman, events director for the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.

"They were actually a Christian film production company and they wanted to get in on the B, sci-fi-horror side of things. So they optioned 'The Blob' [and] they cast then-unknown Steve McQueen."

In fact, the movie's most famous scene was shot at the Colonial Theatre , where the monstrous Blob attacks a crowd of moviegoers.

"They came to the Colonial because [they had the] idea that the blob would ooze out into a movie theater full of people and they would all run out," explained Boardman, "and they paid $75 for the shoot. And they said, 'We know that this is a low rate, but it will make you infamous.' And to this day, almost 70 years later, we still celebrate that."

That scene of people running out of the theater inspired volunteers at the Colonial to create Blobfest, to honor not only the Chester County cult favorite but the theater itself, which reopened in 1999 after having closed eight years before.

"A group decided in the mid to late '90s to reopen the theater and as they were kind of getting back on their feet, someone said, 'Hey, why don't you show 'The Blob?'" Boardman recalled.

"They showed 'The Blob' and then people just automatically ran out of the theater when the movie was over. From there, year over year, a group of volunteers got together and started putting it together — and then it just became this official festival that now the staff puts together every year, still with an amazing group of volunteers."

Blobfest has since grown into a weekend-long event, with movie screenings, dance parties and an outdoor street fair. "We always have a different theme," said Boardman of the event's programming. In previous years, it has included classic sci-fi and horror movies such as "The Wolfman," "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" and "War of the Worlds" — to correspond with themes like "Blobs and Monsters" and "The Uninvited."

(Another favorite has been "Grease," owing to a scene where the Rydell High teens catch a drive-in showing of "The Blob.")

This year, however, is all about celebrating "The Blob" and Blobfest, and it begins with the centerpiece of the festival: a reenactment of that famous movie theater scene. "Friday night, we have a stage show and do the run-out," said Boardman.

"I thought we were watching the movie," said Adrienne Mathiesen of Millville, New Jersey, of her first run-out experience, "and then they're like, 'No, get ready, let's go!' and then we all ran out and watched the movie later. When we ran out, we were screaming like we were being chased by the blob and there were so many people. There had to be thousands of people who ran into in the crowd."

It isn't only the people running out of the theater who enjoy the run-out. "The whole town comes out to watch and cheer the crowd running down Bridge Street," recalled Blobfest regular Tom Barrett, of New York.

Right after the run-out is the Blob Ball, Boardman said, "which is a '50s-style sock hop. Then on Saturday, we show movies all day."

There will be multiple screenings of the original movie, with an additional run-out Saturday evening. Fans can also watch the 1988 remake, itself a cult favorite. In addition, organizers will show "The Blob" dubbed in Spanish for the first time — its Spanish-language title is "La Masa Devoradora."

Sunday will feature the little-loved 1972 sequel "Beware! The Blob," directed by "Dallas" star Larry Hagman... but with a twist. "That will be live-riffed by Matt McGinnis, who is a writer, director and producer for ' Mystery Science Theater 3000 ,'" Boardman said. Joining McGinnis will be the long-running comedy show's creator Joel Hodgson and star Emily Marsh. On "Mystery Science Theater 3000," its stars mercilessly mock bad movies in a snarky running commentary, and this screening will follow suit.

Boardman says this year's street fair — happening rain or shine — will be the biggest yet. "We have more vendors than ever. I think we're at about 105, and they're all going to be vintage sci-fi, horror, camp, family-friendly vendors," he said, while acknowledging the rain in the forecast. "Fortunately, it's looking like the hours of the outdoor festival are just going to miss the thunderstorms, which is great news."

For Phoenixville resident Alexander Neff, who has gone to Blobfest on and off since 2011, it's something to share with his 14-year-old son. "Missed a couple after [2011], but my son and I have been going consistently every year for probably six years," he said.

"When he first started to go, it was, 'All right Dad, I'll go with you,' but now I think it's kind of a touchstone moment for him each year. He is getting a bit more of the jokes and things he wouldn't have gotten at a younger age."

They've done the run-out, though Neff admits they haven't done it each year. ("Sometimes it's harder to get tickets than other years," he said.) The street fair is a highlight for them, not only with its vendors but with unique contests like a tinfoil hat-making competition and a sort of Easter egg hunt — but with blobs.

"They've been doing this for a couple of years. There's a ceramic studio in town, Studio 323, and you can go and make a little clay blob with a little face on it. They'll fire it and glaze it red, and they'll make little blobs and they hide them around town," he explained. "The kids go out and find them [and] you get to keep the ceramic blob."

Actor and musician Cedric Crouch of Philadelphia is also a Blobfest regular, having gone to the event almost every year of its existence. "I really like that it's a celebration of everything cool and campy, a throwback to the great '50s sci-fi that I grew up watching as a kid," he said.

In addition, Crouch often performs at the afterparty with his band Psycho '78. "This will be our 10th year playing the afterparty. The event always features a variety of bands playing tribute sets of their favorite artist's music, sort of like the music equivalent of cosplay," he laughed. This year, his band will perform the music of the Misfits.

Blobfest typically draws thousands of camp and kitsch devotees from our area and beyond, but for Neff, it means even more to residents of Phoenixville. "It's just a neat interaction with the community," he said. "It's been important to a lot of people, [the Phoenixville Area Economic Development Corporation] buying the Colonial Theatre. [Association for the Colonial Theatre co-founder] Mary Foote put in a lot of work into saving that building … [It] really started a seed in the town of regrowth."

The theater has an especially personal meaning for Neff. "My wife and I got married there in 2007. It's pretty important," he cheerfully recalled.

Barrett has a similar attachment to the festival. "I had never heard of Blobfest until eight years ago. The girl I was dating suggested going, and we have gone every year since. We're married now."

Blobfest runs through Sunday evening, with a 3D screening of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" closing it out. "That's our grand finale because that's the movie that we've shown the most at Blobfest over the years," Boardman said. And while Blobfest 25 is all about celebrating the past, Boardman says he's looking forward to the future of Blobfest.

"Next year, we have some ideas up our sleeves, so we're gonna see about expanding it even further … really playing with the theme and what we offer to all the people coming to experience it, how we can even push it beyond what we currently do in the three days we have," he said.

"I can hint that it'll definitely be campy," he teased. "It generally is campy, but next year will definitely be campier."