Beware! The Blob

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."Tivia: 'Beware! The Blob'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: March 5, 2015. It is the second film in The Blob film series.

Plot 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 1957 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

Production Larry Hagman came up with the idea for a Blob sequel while relaxing in his bathtub, and immediately called his next-door neighbor, producer Jack H. Harris, persuading him to fund the film, and assuring him that "we are all going to get rich from it".Norma Lee Browning (September 19, 1971). "Hollywood Today: The Good Life, Hagman Style: Bathtub for Six". Chicago Tribune. Most of the cast and cameo appearances consisted of Hagman's friends and neighbors.

Principal photography started in the spring of 1971. The film was shot at various locations in California, including Diamond Bar, Pomona, and Venice. According to Hagman, the film was shot in 16 days with a budget of about $110,000.Joyce Haber (September 26, 1971). "Larry Hagman - Wild Man of Malibu Beach". Los Angeles Times. Reportedly, significant portions of the original screenplay were discarded, and numerous scenes were improvised during filming.

Release The film received a limited and staggered theatrical release, opening in some parts of the country in late summer and fall 1972 and in others during the spring and summer of 1973.

Following the success of Dallas, the film was re-released in the summer of 1981.

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."Son of Blob" . Umbrella Entertainment. Retrieved: May 28, 2013. 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."Beware! The Blob". Kino Lorber. Retrieved: October 19, 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."Holston and Winchester 1997, p. 63.

Beware! The Blob

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