5.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A technician brings a frozen specimen of the original Blob back from the North Pole. When his wife accidentally defrosts the thing, it terrorizes the populace, including the local hippies, kittens, and bowlers.
Starring: Robert Walker Jr., Gwynne Gilford, Richard Stahl, Richard Webb (I), Shelley BermanHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
BDInfo
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
I’ve seen my share of horror movies over the years, but few of them have decided to open with a montage of kitten play in a field to backdrop the main titles. Losing any hope for threat right away, 1972’s “Beware! The Blob” establishes a goofball tone from the start, finding director Larry Hagman refusing to take the picture seriously, trying to deliver a more lighthearted chiller that still delivers plenty of the oozing titular menace. The approach doesn’t work for “Beware! The Blob,” which emerges as a painfully slack continuation (following the 1958 cult classic) without frights or laughs, representing more of an experiment from Hagman, who may have been trying to make history’s most meandering sequel. Save for a few amusing attack sequences, he’s largely successful, managing to transform a surefire premise of gooey doom into a tremendous test of patience.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is likely the best "Beware! The Blob" will ever look on home video, refreshed for its HD debut. Sharpness isn't precise due to cinematographic limitation, but detail remains open for inspection, delivering textures on period costuming and facial close-ups, and blob activity identifies production craftsmanship. Colors are capable, offering stable primaries and natural skintones. Blob redness is intact, coming through with pleasing intensity. Delineation is adequate, never losing frame information. Source isn't worn thin, showing surprising health, with only speckling and some scratching to contend with.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix definitely displays significant wear and tear, finding dialogue exchanges muffled, with intelligibility challenged during heated moments. Hiss and pops also carry throughout the listening event. Scoring isn't defined to satisfaction, lacking power and instrumentation. Sound effects aren't clean, but gunshots and blob attacks register passably.
"Beware! The Blob" has a few peculiar interests, including a bit of casual racism as Sheriff Jones dismisses his black deputy, and Clackers, a toy banned in the mid-1980s, appear in multiple scenes, perhaps included to cash in a fad or simply used to entertain a cast that would rather be anywhere but stuck in a "Blob" sequel. I'm sure Hagman had his reasons, and it would've been great to watch a more defined picture, which only comes into complete focus in the climax, where the community does battle with the Blob. It's only here where Hagman actually works up the nerve to take the premise seriously, and such dramatic focus is a nice change of pace, finally locating the appeal of "Beware! The Blob," which remains entirely in the conflict between the stupefied and the viscous. To stray away from that is pointless, and to do it with such a dismal sense of timing is cinematic suicide.
1986
1988
Collector's Edition
2006
1958
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1977
Theatrical Edition
2017
Earth vs. the Spider
1958
1982
Limited to 1,000 made
1978
1964
1955
1953
1977
1956
1959
2011
Warner Archive Collection
1951
2002
2010
2010