Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

The Beginning Of The End shows us the terrifying scenario of what could happen if Illinois were to come under attack by an army of giant grasshoppers(it's a fear I've struggled with for years).
In the film, entomologist Peter "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?" Graves and his deaf/mute botanist partner have succeeded in using radiation to grow large fruits and vegetables. The idea is to end world hunger, but who wants to eat radioactive fruit? Grasshoppers eat the food, grow enormous and destroy half of Illinois(which I suppose isn't too terrible as long as they destroy all the damn toll booths while they're at it). I can't help but wonder why it's only grasshoppers. I mean, other insects eat tomatoes and strawberries too, ya know? Anyhow, Graves has to race against the clock to find a way to destroy the grasshoppers before they drop The Bomb on Chicago.
Yup, it's Bert I Gordon in the house again! Yup, it's rear projection grasshoppers! And yup, there is a scene on a high rise apartment where a half naked woman is grooming herself in a mirror and a grasshopper appears at the window and smashes his way in! It's 50s big bug horror, and it's one of the better ones. I know that the Mystery Science Theater guys took a stab at this one, and it's easy to see why, the subject is too irresistible. Personally I find that show more irritating than funny, I like it more when I can heckle with my own group of buddies. Sorry about that, but I guess I had to put in my two cents about MST3K sometime.
There's an interesting commentary with Gordon's ex-wife and daughter, but strangely not Gordon himself. Is he ashamed of his filmography? I would have loved to have heard what he had to say.

The Illinois town of Ludlow (which mysteriously looks like Griffith Park, CA) is wiped off the map. International reporter Audrey Aimes (Peggie Castle) just happened to be passing by on a different assignment. She has a nose for news and when you run into a road block of several military vehicles and no explanation, you may suspect something is up.

While investigating that something that of course she intuitively knows is related to radioactivity, she is naturally stonewalled by the great Sci-Fi military actors of the time, Gen. John Hanson (Morris Ankrum) and Col. Tom Sturgeon (Thomas Browne Henry.)

Who can Audrey turn to for help? Who else dabbles in radiation? Yep it is entomologist Dr. Ed Wainwright (Peter Graves) with his deaf-mute sidekick Frank (Than Wyenn.) She admires his big uh... strawberries. He explains even though Frank was o.k. last year that radiation is harmless.

So what wiped out a local warehouse and the town of Ludlow?

This is another great Bert I. Gordon film; you will recognize his signature and the great amount of money and time thrown at this epic. Effects do not have to be as sophisticated as Ray Harryhausen or any of that cartoonish CGI. All you need is a photo of Chicago and a few hundred imported Texas (male) grasshoppers.


Target Earth (1954) (B&W)