View source for Beginning of the End

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When a small Illinois town vanishes off the map in a single night, [[Intrepid Reporter]] Audrey Aimes swoops in smelling a scoop. Denied this, she begins investigating the goings on, leading her to Dr. Peter Graves, who has developed a greenhouse full of [[I Love Nuclear Power|atomic-sized fruits and vegetables]]<ref>By which we mean vegetables grown to enormous size through the use of atomic power, ''not'' [[I Thought It Meant|vegetables the size of atoms]]</ref> -- which the local insect population keeps breaking into.

Continuing the investigation, Audrey and Peter eventually discover the culprit: LOCUSTS! BIG ONES!! Irradiated by the good doctor's atomic plants, the local locust population has been transformed into a [[Nigh Invulnerable]] swarm of eight-foot-plus bugs [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|of DOOM!]] The giant bugs begin chowing down on ([[Special Effects Failure|postcards of]]) the Illinois countryside and work their way toward [[The Windy City|Chicago]] while Dr. Peter Graves tries to figure out how to stop them.

For the ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' version, please go to the [[Mystery Science Theater 3000/Recap/S05/E17 Beginning of the End|episode recap page]].

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* [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever]]: Actually, [[Your Size May Vary|the script mentions that the Big Bugs come in various sizes]], in an effort to cover the lousy compositing work.
* [[Auto Erotica]]: The couple in the [[Cold Open]] only manage to get to first base before they're killed off though.
* [[Big Creepy-Crawlies]]: The locusts, of course.
* [[California Doubling]]: There are ''no'' [[The Mountains of Illinois|mountain ranges in Illinois]].
* [[Chickification]]: Audrey Aimes goes from [[Intrepid Reporter]] in the first half of the movie to [[Neutral Female]] in the latter half.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: clearly inspired by ''[[Them]]!'', '''the''' big-bug film of [[The Fifties]].
* [[More Dakka]]: When Peter Graves gets his hands on a military submachinegun.
* [[Police Are Useless]]: Audrey invokes this to justify her continued investigation into things: "The sheriff thinks in terms of 'crime and publicity'. You're a ''scientist''; you think in terms of 'cause and effect'; maybe [[The Only One|you'll see something the sheriff missed]]."
* [[Retirony]]: "You know, I'm 37 years old, and I've [[Tempting Fate|just realized how much I've taken life for granted]]."
* [[Somewhere an Entomologist Is Crying]]: A locust swarm is '''NOT''' like an ant or bee colony, and it sure as hell isn't an intelligent army capable of using a spearhead formation or focusing its attacks on one spot in an enemy's lines!
* [[The Speechless]]: deaf/mute Frank.
* [[Technology Marches On]]: Audrey has a car phone, which isn't treated as an especially new or unusual technology.
* [[You Have to Believe Me]]: played hilariously straight even as Dr. Peter Graves intones, "You know I'm not given to hysteria and you've got to listen to me with an open mind!"
** It doesn't help that Audrey [[Idiot Ball|fails to take a photograph of the giant locust]] when she has the chance.
** At least Ed gets in the one response most others in his situation never think of: "Won't you at least check it out? ''Or have you'' '''''found''''' ''an answer?''"

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Mystery Science Index 3000]]
[[Category:Horror Films]]
[[Category:Films of the 1950s]]
[[Category:Beginning of the End]]
[[Category:Film]]