Score: 5 Out Of 10
I know I am going to be in the minority for saying this, and I never noticed this until I watched this movie, but grasshoppers are fucking adorable! I mean the poster to the left makes them look all kinds of menacing but once I saw them my heart just melted. "Beginning Of The End (1957)" was directed by Bert I. Gordon and stars Peter Graves, Peggie Castle and Morris Ankrum. The movie is about giant grasshoppers attacking Chicago. That's it. This movie is what people call "good bad." It was made in the 1950's when giant monster movies (especially giant bug movies) were all the rage and people were worried about atomic warfare (yes, that does come up in this film). The problem primarily is that the bulk of the action occurs off screen. A lot of early horror and sci-fi films used this technique but they used it to build suspense so when you did finally see the monster it was a real shock. Unfortunately (even by 1950's standards) the special effects are pretty bad so the big reveal just felt more silly than anything.
The acting is pretty lame (obviously) and highlighted by the special effects not meshing well with the actors. Soldiers firing their guns in the opposite direction as the grasshoppers is just one of many shots where the film seems more like a comedy than a horror film (it was featured in an episode of MST3K, by the way). But despite all the bad acting, writing, special effects, directing and cinematography, there is just something lovable about this movie. Maybe it is just my own love for giant monster movies or maybe it is that I all of a sudden find myself thinking grass hoppers are really cute. Either way, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this movie and would actually watch it again.
Love,
The B-Movie Guy
Twitter: @BMovieguy
No comments:
Post a Comment