Beware! The Blob

Infobox Film
name = Beware! The Blob


image_size =
caption =
director = Larry Hagman
producer = Anthony Harris
writer = Story:
Richard Clair
Jack H. Harris
Screenplay:
Anthony Harris
Jack Woods
starring = Robert Walker, Jr.
Gwynne Gilford
Richard Stahl
Richard Webb
Marlene Clark
Gerrit Graham
J.J. Johnston
Danny Goldman
Godfrey Cambridge
music = Mort Garson
cinematography = Al Hamm
editing = Tony de Zarraga
distributor = Jack H. Harris Enterprises Inc.
released = June 21, 1972 (USA)
runtime = 91 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by = "The Blob"
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:84895
imdb_id = 0068271

"Beware! The Blob" (alternately titled as "Beware the Blob", "Son of Blob" and "Son of the Blob") is a 1972 sequel to horror science-fiction 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. Unrated; originally rated PG.

Plot

The film begins when an oil pipeline layer named Chester (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. On the way 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 on the kitchen countertop - which releases "the Blob" (the same "Blob" in the original 1958 film). It starts by eating a fly, then a kitten, Chester's wife, and then Chester himself. Lisa (Gilford) walks in on Chester in the process of being devoured by the Blob, and escapes, but cannot get anyone to believe her, not even her boyfriend Bobby (Walker). Meanwhile the rapidly-growing creature quietly preys upon the town: some of its victims include a cop and two hippies (Cindy Williams and Randy Stonehill) in a storm drain, a barber (Shelley Berman) and his client (in an unnerving scene), transients (played by director Hagman, Burgess Meredith and Del Close), a Scout Master (Dick Van Patten), a farm-full of chickens, a bar full of people (off camera), a hippie in a dune buggy (Gerrit Graham) and his girlfriend (Carol Lynley). The now-massive blob invades a bowling alley and a skating rink (consuming dozens more people in the process), and is finally stopped when Bobby activates the rink's ice mechanism, freezing it.

At the very end of the movie, while being filmed by a television crew, a lamp is knocked over, melting a small portion, implying the possibility of a continuation. However, the next "Blob" movie (released in 1988) was a loose remake of the original which did not follow on from this film.

Production

Filming was carried out in and around Diamond Bar, California and Pomona, California, both 30 miles east of Los Angeles. In an interview in Fangoria magazine, screenwriter Anthony Harris stated that a good portion of the filmed material was improvised on the set and that the script was ignored.

As in the original 1958 film, the Blob was largely portrayed by gallons of dyed red silicone. However, in this film, the Blob was also created from alternate materials ranging from a large red plastic balloon to semi-transparent red plastic sheeting to a large rotating red "drum" of hard silicone placed in front of the camera lens (referred to among fans as the "Blob-Cam" shot).

To date this is the only feature film to have been directed by Hagman; his other directorial credits include several television shows. Many of those who worked on the film stated that Hagman was constantly high on marijuana during production.

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 providing "the blob" and all of its antics. Cundey was also the camera operator on second unit shots of the blob eating the fly and the kitten, etc.

Co-star Del Close would also appear in the remake of "The Blob" in 1988.

Release

In 1982 the film was re-issued with the tagline "The film that J.R. shot!" in an attempt to capitalize on the success of Hagman's television series "Dallas".

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 Party Guest
*J.J. Johnston as Sheriff's Deputy Kelly
*Dick Van Patten as Scoutmaster
*Tiger Joe Marsh as The Naked Turk
*Fred Smoot as Pinsetter Repairman
*Randy Stonehill as Guitar player, singer
*Preston Hagman as Preston, a Scout
*Larry Norman as Party guest, coffee shop customer
*Bill Coontz as William B. Foster
*Shelley Berman as Hair Stylist
*Godfrey Cambridge as Chester Hargis
*Larry Hagman as Hobo
*Carol Lynley as Leslie
*Bud Cort as Birthday Party Guest (uncredited)
*Burgess Meredith as Hobo (uncredited)
*Conrad Rothmann as Fireman (uncredited)
*Danny Goldman
*Rockne Tarkington
*Tim Baar
*Del Close
*Cindy Williams
*John Houser
*Robert N. Goodman
*Patrick McAllister
*Byron Keith
*Margie Adleman

External links

*imdb title|id=0068271|title=Beware! The Blob
*rotten-tomatoes|id=son_of_blob|title=Beware! The Blob