Beginning of the End

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For other uses, see The Beginning of the End.

Beginning of the End

Directed by	Bert I. Gordon
Produced by	Bert I. Gordon
Written by	Fred Freiberger Lester Gorn
Starring	Peter Graves Peggie Castle Morris Ankrum Richard Benedict James Seay
Music by	Albert Glasser
Cinematography	Jack A. Marta
Editing by	Aaron Stell
Running time	73 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Beginning of the End is a 1957 science fiction film starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle. In it, grasshoppers are accidentally allowed to eat atomic radiation-grown foodstuffs at the Illinois State Experimental Farm, grow to gigantic size with gigantic appetites, and attack Chicago. Director Bert I. Gordon used rear projection, a common special effect at the time, to present the giant grasshoppers "interacting" with the characters. He also included close-up shots of grasshoppers crawling on photographs of Chicago buildings for ultra-low-budget establishment and action scenes.^{[citation needed]}

This movie was featured on the movie-riffing TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) during its fifth season.

[edit] DVD releases

Beginning of the End has been released by Image Entertainment.
The MST3K version of the film was released (and later recalled) by Rhino Home Video. This edition also contained the uncut film, included as a bonus feature.