Attention au blob !

If I had not seen BEWARE!THE BLOB as an impressionable youth, maybe I could look at it as a cheezy, poorly acted, uneven special effects, campy movie. But there is something sinister going on in this flick, and untill I read a mini revue in CULT MAGAZINE I thought maybe I was just being sensitive. A follow-up to the famous original about a man eating jello from outer space, most critics said something to the effect that BEWARE! THE BLOB doesn't know if it wants to be a horror movie or a comedy, so it fails at both, but I don't agree with that sum-up. I think Larry Hagman (and, or the writers)did something unlike anything done before. In a Horror-comedy, the humor is there to relieve the horror. HERE they got it backwards! We see characters doing goofy sit-com type things, and then they get eaten by the blob! I find the mix of styles very disturbing. This movie gave me nightmares as a kid, and I still can't shake it off! I think Hagman also had a lot of contempt at the time he made this flick. The characters are usually stupid and brain dead to their surroundings, making them easy prey (they are all self-absorbed before being blob-absorbed!). I find the bowling ally attack to be very effective despite the uneven special effects. I know some of you may think I'm taking this silly movie way to seriously and, okay, maybe I am.. But now when you go to a bowling ally, or to the barbers, or sit back in your easy chair just like Godfry Cambridge did, you may just think twice.. BEWARE!

Roger Corman once mentioned in an interview something to the effect that when he looked in on the filming of a comedy, he knew everything was all right if the cast and crew were joking and laughing and having a good time. In his experience, that energy would translate to the screen and the picture would be funny and enjoyable.

Although Corman did not produce this particular picture, "Beware! The Blob" looks to me to be exemplary of this kind of thinking. The cast was obviously enjoying the experience of making the film, and we, the audience, get the benefit. A certain sense of giddy frivolity is evident.

This movie was made by Jack Harris and Larry Hagman in the 70's--the early 70's. And by golly, it shows. Many people hate this film, and part of me wants to shout, "C'mon, guys, this is great stuff! You're watching it the wrong way!" But really, this film isn't for everyone. Not everyone likes grape jelly. Or strawberry jam. And that's...okay.

I would say this sequel to the (excellent) "The Blob" is played half-seriously, and that's why I find it so strange and refreshing. Sometimes it's a raucous farce. Sometimes it's straight horror. And oddly enough for a 70's film, it seems to know when it is being one or the other, and keeps true to whatever it is at that moment. It's not nearly as badly made as many of its detractors claim.

Watch it for the pea soup-thick 70's atmosphere. You'll feel as if you've entered another world. Watch it for the inventive low-budget special effects. A few shots look pretty nice even today. Watch it for the scene with the bald would-be victim guy in the bathtub, who throws the phone through the window when he sees the gelatinous menace oozing under his bathroom door, and who is then seen running starkers through the streets, shouting, while funny music plays. "Beware! The Blob" is extremely goofy, exciting, brightly-colored fun stuff. It is extremely representative of the era in which it was made.

Trust me: There is NO movie that entertains the way this one does. See it and treat yourself to a fun bit of film!

The only thing horrifying about this movie is that it got greenlighted, backed, and filmed: It's more horrendous than horrifying.

I have never given a zero rating before as I try to find good in everything, though no matter how hard I tried I couldn't do it with this travesty of a movie.

The story of The Blob's return is told in a series of skits and sketches, which are meant to be humorous and scary... Unfortunately, the writer Jack A Harris (who produced the film) and screenwriters Anthony Harris and Jack Woods evidently couldn't grasp either concept as the laughs are on the audience who paid good money to watch this, which is the only horrific idea related to the film. Not having read Richard Clair's story "A Chip Off The Old Blob!" (which is also a much better and funny title for a comedy horror movie) I cannot say if these traits stem from here.

Then they give the directors hat to Larry "JR Ewing" Hagman. Though he'd directed five TV episodes this was his first full-length movie and it shows. It could also be the reason he never went back to directing for the big screen.

Another shock was to see some big'ish names appearing in cameo roles... Robert Walker Jr, Carol Lynley, Shelley Berman, Cindy Williams, Burgess Meredith, Dick Van Patton, and even Sid Haig

All these names do not a good film make. Instead of watching this movie, go paint that bedroom you've been putting off and then grab a chair and watch that paint dry, you'll have a more entertaining and productive time.

Halfway between playing Major Nelson and J.R. Ewing on television, Larry Hagman found the time to direct this low-budget sequel to the 1958 schlock horror classic that first put Steve McQueen on the map. The tone is somewhere between an Attack of the Killer Tomatoes-like parody (though several years prior to that film)and a straightforward monster-on-the-loose thriller. Although never truly scary, there are a few nice moments, including a climax that essentially recreates the classic movie theater scene from the original but resets it in a crowded bowling alley. Mostly it's fun to try and spot the many well-known actors who appear throughout, including Godfrey Cambridge and Carol Lynley as town locals; comedian Shelley Berman as a hair stylist; Dick Van Patten as a Boy Scout leader; and Burgess Meredith and Hagman himself (nearly unrecognizable) as a pair of hobos. Young Cindy Williams (pre-Laverne & Shirley and American Graffiti) plays a dope-smoking hippie chick, while character actor Richard Stahl gives a great slow-burn comic performance as the bowling alley owner. If you're a fan of the original or just enjoy early-'70s drive-in creature features, you may have some fun taking a look at this.

More of a comedy than a horror flick with an all-star cast in this rarely seen 1972 sequel to the original 1958 "The Blob". This version starts out as a mysterious substance in a sealed container that reads "Specimen--keep frozen", which a man brings home and puts in the freezer. Then his wife, not knowing what's inside it, leaves it out on the counter where it escapes and begins to grow and reak havoc across town. Two teenagers set out to try and warn people of it's approach, but nobody, including the local police, wants to take them seriously, until they see it swallowing up everyone and everything in it's path. Starring Larry Hagman, Burgess Meredith, Shelley Berman, Dick Van Patton, Carol Lynley & Cindy Williams.