Beware! The Blob
The Movie That J.R. Shot!
The Blob returns…more outrageous than ever in this 1972 sequel to the popular sci-fi classic! Plenty of familiar faces, including Larry Hagman (who also directed), Burgess Meredith, Dick Van Patten, Robert Walker and Shelley Berman, add to the fun. A geologist (Godfrey Cambridge) unwittingly brings home an unusual frozen piece of debris from the North Pole. But when it accidentally thaws, the hungrier-than-ever blood-red Blob comes to life again, consuming nearly everyone in its path and terrorizing the town. No one is safe as it crawls into a bowling alley and oozes its way across an ice rink, becoming grotesquely bloated with the blood of its victims. Can this bizarre creature ever be stopped?!
Member Reviews
Surprisingly Enjoyable - MovieMantos
Yes, it's dated. Yes, it's low budget. But I found myself watching and enjoying all the cameo of 70's pre and post fame actors (Bud Cort, Cindy Williams, Burgess Meredith, and of coarse Larry Hagman, who also directed this little gem) stumbling through their lines in this shlock horror film. If you enjoyed the original 1958 film you may get a kick out of this one too. But make sure you don't have anything better to do or else you may be disappointed.Beware! The Blob (1972) - DougInPeterborough
The Blob (1958) was a better than average monster movie that is most notable for launching the career of Steven McQueen, having an absolutely ludicrous theme song (partly composed by Burt Bacharach), and featuring a sentient ball of jell-o as its main antagonist. At the end of that film The Blob is shown to be susceptible to cold and, after being attacked by fire extinguishers, is dropped into the arctic. Not a bad idea.
Apparently attacking red jelly from outer space doesn't make national news back in the 50s, as the characters in Beware! The Blob have to battle the creature without any prior knowledge in this oddly bland sequel. Also known as Son Of Blob, the film was directed by a post-I Dream of Jeannie (and pre-Dallas) Larry Hagman in a flat, static style, but is fascinating for its semi-improvised atmosphere and slew of early 70s, um, celebrities like Dick Van Patten and Burgess Meredith. It also helped launch the career of John Carpenter's regular cinematographer Dean Cundey (Halloween, Back To The Future, Jurassic Park), though it's a shame that his work isn't a bit more evident in front of the camera.
The creature itself is quite active throughout the film, and credit should be given to Tim Baar (The Time Machine, H.R. Pufnstuf) for bringing it to life convincingly. However, even while it's tearing through people in the bowling alley it doesn't feel particularly threatening, particularly with the strawberry-red coloring it's been given. Still, there are some impressive scenes of seemingly rivers of goop flowing towards characters, though violence is certainly kept to a minimum.
The film was shot 1.85:1 but is here presented in a full-screen 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The image quality is rather rough with considerable grain evident and dark scenes seeming rather murky. Still very watchable, but Image usually puts a bit more effort into their picture quality. The audio is a little muddy, but tolerable throughout.
Member Reviews
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Surprisingly Enjoyable - MovieMantos
Yes, it's dated. Yes, it's low budget. But I found myself watching and enjoying all the cameo of 70's pre and post fame actors (Bud Cort, Cindy Williams, Burgess Meredith, and of coarse Larry Hagman, who also directed this little gem) stumbling through their ...Beware! The Blob (1972) - DougInPeterborough
The Blob (1958) was a better than average monster movie that is most notable for launching the career of Steven McQueen, having an absolutely ludicrous theme song (partly composed by Burt Bacharach), and featuring a sentient ball of jell-o as its main antagonist. ...