Villian(s)  Alien matter

Actor(s):  Robert Walker Jr., Godfrey Cambridge, Carol Lynley, Shelley Berman

Brief Description  Beware! The Blob (1972)—also widely released under titles like Son of Blob and The Blob Returns—is an American independent sci-fi comedy horror film that serves as the direct sequel to the 1958 classic The Blob. Notably marking the only feature directorial credit of television star Larry Hagman (I Dream of Jeannie, Dallas), the low-budget production leans heavily into early-1970s counterculture satire and features an extensive roster of cameo appearances. The film shifts the tone of the original franchise from a earnest, suspenseful B-movie monster flick to a chaotic, free-flowing dark comedy.

Plot:
Fifteen years after the events of the original movie, a pipeline worker named Chester Hargis (Godfrey Cambridge) returns home to suburban Los Angeles from a job site at the North Pole. He unwittingly brings back a small, frozen sample of the mysterious alien substance uncovered by a bulldozer. Planning to have it analyzed at a laboratory, Chester stores the container in his home freezer. His wife, Mariane (Marlene Clark), removes the container and leaves it on the counter, accidentally letting the substance thaw. Regenerated, the small translucent ooze creeps out and begins feeding—first absorbing a fly, then a kitten, and eventually Mariane herself. In a self-referential twist, the growing monster sneaks up and devours Chester while he sits in his armchair watching a television broadcast of the original 1958 The Blob movie.

Local teenager Lisa Clark (Gwynne Gilford) walks into the Hargis home and catches a glimpse of the creature digesting Chester. Terrified, she flees and alerts her boyfriend, Bobby Hartford (Robert Walker Jr.).When the couple returns to the house with the local authorities, the creature has already slithered away to look for more prey. Because the house is completely empty, the skeptical Sheriff Jones (Richard Webb) refuses to believe their wild story about a carnivorous giant jelly, writing it off as hippie hysteria. As the Blob moves seamlessly through the town, the narrative fractures into a series of loosely connected, comedic vignettes designed to showcase the creature consuming various eccentric local characters.

The Barber Shop: The Blob slides into a barber shop where a clean-cut barber (Shelley Berman) is patronizing a heavily stoned hippie who came in asking for a "hair sculpt". The Scout Troop: It ambushes an unfortunate troop of Boy Scouts led by their oblivious Scoutmaster (Dick Van Patten). The Hobo Camp: It moves through a clearing where it engulfs a group of vagrants, played in uncredited cameos by director Larry Hagman and Hollywood veteran Burgess Meredith. The Party: It traps a collection of local youths, including characters played by Gerrit Graham and Cindy Williams, digesting them in their own homes and vehicles. Now massive and completely unstoppable by traditional weapons, the Blob moves toward the town's local indoor ice-skating rink, tracking a large crowd of townspeople inside.

It seals off the exits and begins absorbing the panicked skaters. Bobby and Lisa, along with rink manager Edward Fazio (Richard Stahl), realize the creature's vulnerability when they notice it refuses to step onto the frozen surface of the ice. Bobby sprints to the mechanical room and activates the building's industrial refrigeration controls, freezing the air and floor. The Blob is successfully immobilized into a harmless, frozen block of solid ice. The movie ends on a comedic cliffhanger. As a television news crew rolls into the rink to interview Sheriff Jones about his heroism, the crew sets up powerful, intensely hot broadcast lighting. Bobby cries out a warning, but the hot lights immediately begin melting the top of the frozen monster. The words "The End" flash across the screen, morphing into a giant red question mark as the screen fades out.