Beware! The Blob

Beware! The Blob
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Larry Hagman
Screenplay by	Anthony Harris Jack Woods
Story by	Richard Clair Jack H. Harris
Produced by	Anthony Harris
Starring	Robert Walker Jr. Carol Lynley Godfrey Cambridge Gwynne Gilford Richard Stahl Richard Webb Marlene Clark Gerrit Graham J. J. Johnston Danny Goldman
Cinematography	Al Hamm
Edited by	Tony de Zarraga
Music by	Mort Garson
Production companies	Jack H. Harris Enterprises, Inc.
Distributed by	Jack H. Harris Enterprises Inc.
Release date	June 21, 1972 (1972-06-21)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$150,000 (estimated)

Beware! The Blob (also known as Beware the Blob, Son of Blob, The Blob II or The Blob Returns) is a 1972 American independent science fiction comedy horror film directed by Larry Hagman. It is a sequel to The Blob (1958). The screenplay was penned by Anthony Harris and Jack Woods III, based on a story by Jack H. Harris and Richard Clair. The film originally earned a PG rating from the MPAA, though it is now unrated. It is the second film in The Blob film series.

Plot

There was a previous version of Beware the Blob, which began showing a piece of heavy equipment working on the Alaskan Pipeline project, moving through an area full of snow. At some point a plow attachment strikes something hard. The driver checks to see what was hit. He discovers the frozen blob , from the original movie. (Though it is not made clear whether he has any idea what it is.) He takes a piece which has broken off. Then the music starts and the opening credits begin. Unfortunately, this version of the story is no longer part of any release that I have seen since 1986. Picking up fifteen years after the events of The Blob, an oil pipeline engineer named Chester returns to his suburban Los Angeles home from the North Pole, bringing with him a metal container holding a small sample of a mysterious frozen substance uncovered by a bulldozer on a job site. Not aware that the substance is a piece of the Blob from the original 1958 incident in Pennsylvania, Chester stores the substance in his home freezer prior to taking it to the laboratory to be analyzed. His wife Marianne accidentally lets it thaw when she takes the container out of the freezer and forgets about it, re-animating the Blob. It eats a fly, a kitten, Marianne, and then Chester.

Lisa, Chester and Marianne's friend, walks in to see Chester being consumed by the Blob. She escapes, but cannot get anyone to believe her, not even her boyfriend Bobby. The rapidly growing creature quietly preys upon the town, absorbing multiple people. Lisa and Bobby find themselves trapped in Bobby's truck, with the creature attempting to find a way inside. While panicking, the truck's air conditioning is accidentally switched on and the Blob retreats because of its vulnerability to cold.

After consuming dozens more people, the now-massive Blob moves on to an ice skating rink under renovation. It is finally stopped when Bobby activates the rink's ice mechanism, freezing it. While the frozen Blob is filmed by a television crew, one of the crew's lights is positioned on the ground, melting a small portion of it, which oozes toward the sheriff and envelops his feet as he is speaking on camera to a nationwide television audience.

Cast

• Robert Walker as Bobby Hartford
• Gwynne Gilford as Lisa Clark
• Richard Stahl as Edward Fazio
• Richard Webb as Sheriff Jones
• Marlene Clark as Mariane Hargis
• Gerrit Graham as Joe, Ape-Suited
• J. J. Johnston as Deputy Kelly Davis
• Dick Van Patten as Scoutmaster Adleman
• Tiger Joe Marsh as Naked Turk
• Fred Smoot as Mike Pinsetter, The Repairman
• Randy Stonehill as Randy, Guitar Player / Singer
• Cindy Williams as Hippie
• Preston Hagman as Preston, Boy Scout
• Larry Norman as Blonde Teenager
• Bill Coontz as Bowling Alley Manager
• Shelley Berman as Hair Stylist
• Godfrey Cambridge as Chester Hargis
• Larry Hagman as Hobo
• Carol Lynley as Leslie
• Danny Goldman as Bearded Teenager
• Rockne Tarkington as Deputy Williams
• John Houser as Hair Stylist's Customer
• Robert N. Goodman as Henry, Security Guard
• Patrick McAllister as Al, Repairman's Assistant
• Byron Keith as Bowling Customer
• Burgess Meredith as Old Hobo
• Margie Adleman as Party Guest With Joe

Home media

As Son of Blob together with The Blob, the film was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in September 2011. The DVD is compatible with all region codes. Beware! The Blob was transferred to HD in its correct 1.85 ratio and released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber on September 20, 2016.

Reception

Film historians Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester considered the film was "... Now viewed as a relic of mid- to late-hippiedom ... overall, there's some tension, and some nods to the predecessor."

See also

• List of American films of 1972

Bibliography

• Holston, Kim R. and Tom Winchester. Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Sequels, Series and Remakes: An Illustrated Filmography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1997. ISBN 978-0-7864-0155-0.

External links

• Beware! The Blob at IMDb
• Beware! The Blob at the TCM Movie Database
• Beware! The Blob at AllMovie
• Beware! The Blob at Rotten Tomatoes