‘It’s loose again eating everyone!’
Beware! The Blob – aka Son of Blob – is a 1972 sequel to science fiction horror film The Blob. The film was directed by Larry Hagman. The screenplay was penned by Anthony Harris and Jack Woods III, based on a story by Jack H. Harris and Richard Clair.
In 1982, the film was released on VHS with the tagline “The film that J.R. shot!” in an attempt to capitalise on Larry Hagman’s Dallas fame.
Dean Cundey, who would later go on to be a cinematographer on such films as Halloween, The Thing and Jurassic Park, worked on Beware! The Blob as one of the three special effects technicians (alongside supervisor Tim Baar and Conrad Rothmann) responsible for creating the blob effects.
Plot:
An oil pipeline layer named Chester (Godfrey Cambridge) returns to his suburban Los Angeles home from the North Pole, bringing with him a small sample of a mysterious frozen substance uncovered by a bulldozer on a job site.
Prior to taking the blob to a lab to be analyzed, he places the storage container with the substance in his freezer, but he and his wife accidentally let it thaw, releasing “the Blob”. It starts by eating a fly, then a kitten, Chester’s wife, and then Chester himself (while he is watching a television broadcast of the film The Blob).
Lisa (Gwynne Gilford), a friend, walks in to see Chester being devoured by the Blob. She escapes, but cannot get anyone to believe her, not even her boyfriend Bobby (Robert Walker, Jr.).
Meanwhile the rapidly-growing creature quietly preys upon the town. Some of its victims include a police officer and two hippies (Cindy Williams and Randy Stonehill) in a storm drain, a barber (Shelley Berman) and his client, transients (played by director Hagman, Burgess Meredith and Del Close), a Scout Master (Dick Van Patten), a farm-full of chickens, and (off camera) a bar full of people…
Reviews:
“None of the characters are interesting and most of the victims are only in one scene where they get some dialogue before they get eaten by the blob […] It feels like they filmed everything separately and then just spliced it together and called it a movie.” Cinema Terror
“It moves sluggishly, but is easily beaten at its own game by Larry Hagman’s laboured direction, and by a script which takes an unconscionable time to dispose of the series of guest stars who are trundled on to do comic turns before dying but are given no lines or business worthy of the name. ” Tom Milne, Monthly Film Bulletin, August 1974
“Not only does it fail to capture the atmosphere of the original 1958 The Blob, but it’s also too long and drawn out, and can’t seem to stick with one genre for very long. The best example would be the various blob attacks, which are handled seriously at some times, and humorously at others. Is it a comedy, a horror movie, or a satire on horror movies?” Horror Digital
” …the general sense one gets of the film is of a certain tiredness of it all. It is more of a burlesque of the original than a sequel, and the blob effects are carried out with the least effort possible. It might best be described as a series of eccentric cameos strung together into a film…” Mark Cole, Rivets on the Poster
” …badly needs Steve McQueen, a good script or reasonable special effects and instead gets Larry Hagman’s uninteresting direction.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982
“Mediocre… the special effects look amateurish and the acting is strained.” Cue
Cast and characters:
- 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 Soviet Dong
- Fred Smoot as Mike Pinsetter Repairman
- Randy Stonehill as Randy Guitar player, singer
- Cindy Williams as Hippie
- Preston Hagman as Preston, a 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
- Burgess Meredith as Hobo (uncredited)
- Conrad Rothmann as Fireman (uncredited)
- Danny Goldman as Bearded Teenager
- Rockne Tarkington as Deputy Williams
- Sid Haig as Deputy Ted Sims (uncredited)
- Del Close as Hobo (uncredited)
- 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
- Margie Adleman as Party Guest with Joe
Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
