MooCowMo Review of Beginning of the End

Beginning of the End (1957)

Giant Grasshoppers Attack, and They're Hopping Mad!!! :=8o

[1/10 · 14 December 1999]

Yes, tired of being covered in chocolate, or turned into snooty mixed drinks, and aided by RADIATION, a swarm (well, 5 or 6) of grasshoppers, thirsting for revenge, becomes the latest giant bug moovie of the 50's. Director Bert I. Gordon seems to have a fixation on giant things - he also directed such feeble classics as "The Amazing Colossal Man", "Villlage of the Giants", and "Empire of the Ants". "Beginning of the End" was his first real BIG moovie, and it serves as a harbinger for all things Gordon to come. Peter Graves("Killers from Space", "It Conquered the World", Mission Impossible tv series) is a bug scientist who discovers that giant critters are ettin' up the local population, and figures out a sex call to drive them all into Lake Michigan. First, cowever, the giant hoppers get to swarm all over Chicago, or at least photographs of buildings. Yes, as expected, the poor fx are pretty laughable: they're just regular grasshoppers superimposed against photographs to make them LOOK giant(sort of...). Sometimes the grasshoppers, not known for their method acting, would wander off the building photographs, thus spoiling the effect. It is fun to watch soldiers machine-gunning the giant locusts off the fake buildings. Schlock-fans will also notice Peggy Castle("Invasion USA", "Cow Country")as Audrey Aimes, the erstwhile Brenda Starr-type female reporter with a nose for giant bug news. The always-present Morris Ankrum("Red Planet Mars","Invaders from Mars", "The Giant Claw") plays the overwhelmed General, who has to look serious as he fights a bunch of bugs. Ironically, Ankrum want to nuke the bugs when it was RADIATION that made the bugs in the first place. :=8/ Yes, mankind has tampered where he should not yet again, but there's always one last resourceful hero to save the day - this is the sort of easy formulaic theme that was literally beaten to death during the 50's, 60's, and even into the 70's & 80's. Of course, even though there is tons of leafy green material around, the grasshoppers immediately want to munch on humans(or else there'd be no film), hence the revenge factor. Cud The giant tomatoes in Peter Graves' lab be a foreshadow for giant tomatoes to come?? ;=8) The herd loved the car-phone Peggy Castle uses - were such things available in the 50's?? The MooCow says this 50's classic monster-fest is mooost-viewing for all horror fans because there are sooo many chuckles within. Munch on a huge salad and enjoy! ;=8)