MALVERN, Pa. - Irvin Shortess "Shorty" Yeaworth Jr., who directed the 1958 cult movie "The Blob" and later made hundreds of films with religious and social messages, died in a car accident in Jordan. He was 78.

Yeaworth was traveling from Aqaba to Amman when his vehicle went off the road near Petra on July 19, his wife Jean Bruce Yeaworth said.

"We think he fell asleep," she said.

A resident of the Philadelphia suburb of Malvern, Yeaworth was completing a major entertainment complex in Jordan called Jordanian Experience at the Aqaba Gateway, which was set to open next month. His family called the complex a Disney World-style theme park of Jordanian history.

He often struggled with his legacy as director of the camp sci-fi classic, much of which was filmed in his Chester County back yard.

"He was not very proud of it," his wife said.

But fan adoration of the film endured, especially in nearby Phoenixville. Last week, the annual "BlobFest" tribute was held at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, where a scene was filmed of moviegoers screaming and fleeing the phlegmatic monster.