Beware! The Blob [Son of Blob] * (1972, Robert Walker Jr, Gwynne Gilford, Godfrey Cambridge) – Classic Movie Review 13,097

Larry Hagman’s 1972 lame sci-fi comedy horror film Beware! The Blob [Son of Blob] stars Robert Walker Jr. It’s a nice try but it is not funny enough or scary enough.

Director Larry Hagman’s 1972 lame comedy horror film Beware! The Blob [Son of Blob] stars Robert Walker Jr, Gwynne Gilford, Godfrey Cambridge, Richard Stahl, and Richard Webb. It’s a nice try but the problem is that it is not funny enough and not scary enough.

Larry Hagman is the surprise choice of director for this sequel to the Steve McQueen Fifties original, The Blob (1958), in which the killer ooze Blob returns to make a meal of the inhabitants of a little American town.

It is much like the first one really, but its tone of send-up isn’t nearly as amusing as the foolishly serious slimy business of its predecessor. So it is not funny enough. And there’s not a terror scare in sight, so it is certainly not scary enough.

It is also known as A Chip Off the Old Blob, the title of the original screenplay, and that’s because a technician brings a frozen specimen of the original Blob back from the North Pole, which is accidentally defrosted his by his wife and goes on to terrorise the locals.

The actors preferred largely to ignore Anthony Harris’s screenplay and improvised much of the dialogue on set.

The video was released in 1990 with the witty motto ‘JR shot this!’

It was retitled Son of Blob in the UK.

Robert Walker Jr declined a stuntman double and did the finale rope climbing sequence himself.

Richard Clair had written an unfilmed screenplay called A Chip Off the Old Blob. Anthony Harris, who had just graduated from USC, wanted to work with his producer father Jack H Harris, deciding on a Blob sequel. Larry Hagman, who owned the beach house next door, said he could assemble friends for the cast if he could direct the picture.

The cast include Robert Walker Jr, Gwynne Gilford, Godfrey Cambridge, Richard Webb, Shelley Berman, Carol Lynley, Burgess Meredith as Hobo, Richard Stahl, Larry Hagman in a director cameo as Hobo, Cindy Williams, Gerrit Graham, and Dick Van Patten.

Larry Hagman, runs 89 minutes, is made by Jack H Harris Enterprises, is released by Worldwide Entertainment (US) and Fox-Rank (UK), is written by Jack Woods (screenplay), Anthony Harris (screenplay), Jack H Harris (film story) and Richard Clair (story A Chip Off the Old Blob), is shot in DeLuxe color by Al Hamm, is produced by Jack H Harris, and is scored by Mort Garson, with special effects by Tim Baar,

It premiered on June 10, 1972 in San Antonio, Texas, and was released on June 21, 1972 in the US and September 5, 1974 in the UK (London).

The cast are 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 Ape-Suited Joe,  J. J. Johnston as Deputy Kelly Davis, Dick Van Patten as Scoutmaster Adleman, Tiger Joe Marsh as Naked Turk, Fred Smoot as Repairman Mike Pinsetter, Randy Stonehill as Guitar Player / Singer Randy,  Cindy Williams as Hippie, Preston Hagman as Boy Scout Preston, Larry Norman as Blonde Teenager, Bill Coontz as Bowling Alley Manager, Shelley Berman as Hair Stylist, Godfrey Cambridge as Chester Hargis, Larry Hagman as Hobo, Carol Lynley as Leslie, Danny Goldman as Bearded Teenager, Rockne Tarkington as Deputy Williams, John Houser as Hair Stylist’s Customer, Robert N. Goodman as Security Guard Henry, Patrick McAllister as Repairman’s Assistant Al, Byron Keith as Bowling Customer Burgess Meredith as Old Hobo, and Margie Adleman as Party Guest with Joe.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,097

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