Question: For the original, the sequel and the remake, what materials did the crew use to create the blob and how did they get it to move?
Question: Who played the teenager that got killed at the gazebo? It looks like Michael J. Fox but, when I checked IMDB, there's no name listed for who played him.
Answer: The actor is Randy Doke. He's uncredited for the role, but IMDB lists him as "Puppet Show Dude."
Question: Was Holly already aware that the aliens existed prior to Nada (Piper) abducting her and when did she decide to join the aliens' quest?
Answer: Yes, she was collaborating with the aliens in exchange for wealth and a comfortable lifestyle all along. She was playing dumb, even when she showed up at the underground meeting, a double agent.
Question: Can anyone explain the significance of Tetsuo's transformation towards the end of the film? I've been told it supposed to symbolise something but I can't figure out what.
Answer: In effect, it should symbolize (just as the other psionics say) that humanity is not yet ready to control such power; we are mentally not 'mature' enough. And since we are mere 'children', we tend to play with that power without any real sense of responsibility, and before we know it, it goes out of control. In effect, it mirrors the lack of sense that we demonstrate in our real world, with our technical and political power.
Answer: In both the the 50's original and 70s sequel, the majority of the Blob effects were created using a thick silicone gel colored with red vegetable dye; its movement was essentially controlled by gravity, just letting the goop run downhill and angling the camera to provide the illusion that it was moving horizontally, vertically, or straight at the audience. The original film also employed a large barrage balloon (or weather balloon) covered in the colored silicone goop for shots where people are actually consumed by the Blob. The 1972 sequel additionally used a preposterous rotating spit covered in red plastic, mounted in front of the camera, to provide the Blob's point-of-view as it steamrolled toward its victims. The 1988 remake used much more sophisticated practical effects such as robotics, latex prosthetics, pneumatic tentacles, et cetera, which were directly inspired by John Carpenter's 1982 special-effects-heavy horror flick, "The Thing." For the last couple of decades, there has also been talk of a major CGI reboot of "The Blob," but it has yet to materialize.
Charles Austin Miller