Beware! The Blob

Director - Larry Hagman (Dallas, In the Heat of the Night)

Starring - Robert Walker Jr. (Beyond the Darkness, Star Trek: The Original Series), Gwynne Gilford (Masters of the Universe, Fade to Black), and Richard Stahl (Married...With Children, Overboard)

Release Date - 1972

Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi

Tagline - "The movie that J.R. shot!"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection)

Rating (out of 5):

     A few years ago I was browsing one of the many Facebook groups that I often frequent when I came across a VHS lot for sell dirt cheap. One of the tapes was Son of The Blob.  I had no idea the film had a sequel but when I looked into it I learned that many genre fans disliked the film.  The term "hippie blob" was used a lot to describe it.  Regardless, when I ordered The Blob to watch before I reviewed the Scream Factory release of the remake I decided to go ahead and grab a copy of Beware! The Blob, the alternate title for Son of The Blob, from Kino Lorber. 

     The film takes place several years after the first film.  It begins with a man working in the frozen tundra brings back a sample of something to have tests run on it.  He places it in the freezer at his home but his wife refuses to keep it there so he takes it out.  It thaws out and soon goes on a bloody rampage eating everything it can find until it grows in size.  Now the small town but stop it before it consumes everyone in town before moving on to the rest of the world.

     I was looking forward to checking this one out but once it started rolling I could quickly tell that the film lacked the same spirit as it's predecessor.  Instead of focusing on the blob aspect of the film and where it came from, the film was more worried about being relevant for the time.  Sadly, it may have been very modern and relevant in 1972 but for someone watching it for the first time in 2019 I have to say that it feels like a weird counter-culture ad with the blob scattered throughout.  The acting in this one is more of the classic drive-in gold that came with most of the atom age horror films and space invader flicks that flooded the drive-in during the late 50s, 60s, and 70s.  The cast ham it up and deliver awkward and cheesy performances that make these films so much fun.  Sadly, the characters in this one are difficult to like.  They are extremely annoying and do things so backwards that you just hope they find their way into the blob.  The story for this one is more of the same from the first film except we get a little continuation of the story.  It may continue the story but it doesn't give the viewer anything new.  More of the same except late 1050s is changed with the hippie revolution of the early 70s.  If I had waited 20 years to see a sequel to The Blob it may have worked but going just a matter of minutes between the two like I did made this one feel pointless.  Finally, the film continues with the camera tricks and classic visual effects mixed with practical effects.  I loved the cheesy visuals even though they look extremely cheap.  It only adds to the whole campy feel that makes the drive-in era films so much fun.  It looks bad but in a cheesy way.  Overall, Beware! The Blob falls short of it's predecessor but still offers some redeeming qualities.  Fans of cheap movies and classic monster movies will want to check this one out but don't expect something you will love.