The horror cult classic was filmed entirely in Chester County, and the Colonial served as the backdrop for a pivotal moment in the film when a movie audience rushes out of the theater to escape the Blob's ravenous appetite.
Much in the vein of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, there's a famous reenactment of the "Running Out," scheduled this year for Friday night. Blobfest's emcee, Shane Stone, transforms into Dr. Frank N. Stone, sporting a white lab coat, black-felt goatee, and nerdy, black-rimmed glasses. He'll direct what he calls "the controlled chaos," when people storm out of the theater in make-believe fright.
Last year, close to 400 people ran out of the theater, while 150 people stood across the street to watch the madness.
To celebrate the filming, the cast and crew will reunite for a panel discussion. Producer Jack Harris will be coming from Los Angeles. Crew member Howard Fishlove will be returning from Chicago. Screenwriter Kate Phillips, who turns 94 next week, will also be joining the reunion. She was known as Kate Linaker when she worked on the screenplay for $125.
Finally, local resident Maryann Decarlo, who played one of the teenagers running out of the theater and falling down, will also be returning to the Colonial.
The director, Irvin Shortess Yeaworth II, a Malvern resident known as "Shorty," died in July 2004 after a car accident in Jordan. His son, Irvin Shortess Yeaworth III, nicknamed "Kris," lives in South Coventry Township. He plans on coming to Blobfest to take part in the panel discussion and to serve as a judge for Saturday's wacky costume contest.
McQueen died of lung cancer in 1980. Kris Yeaworth said the only thing on McQueen's wall when he died was a poster of The Blob. "There were pretty talented people who went onto successfully movie careers," remarked David Lentz, a self-professed "Blobhead" who is organizing the two-day celebration.
