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Review by E.C.McMullen Jr. |
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BEGINNING OF THE END- 1957USA Release: June 28, 1957 ABT-PT Pictures Corp., Republic Pictures Rating: USA: N/A |
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"I'll be your Pied Piper."
In that weird Daytime Night of low budget movies peculiar to 1950s Horror movies (it's supposed to be night but the sky is clearly daytime), a couple is making out in a car. The guy is doing the best he can but his gal is merely enduring it, no sparks at all. Then something happens that gets them both screaming!
Still in daytime night mode, a patrol car is tooling down a busy road when one of the cops sees "something". They pull off to find the twisted hulk of the wrecked car the make-out couple was making out in. Apparently they just pulled off to the shoulder to do their thang.
The next thing you know more cops are on the scene but no trace of anyone is in the car. The investigators find a driver's license so one cop is ordered to go to said address in Ludlow, Illinois.
To the cop's horror, the town of Ludlow, population 150, was obliterated. More investigation shows that the 150 people who lived there are all gone. No blood, no bodies, just a town flattened by something.
News reporter, Audrey Aimes (Peggy Castle: INVASION U.S.A., BACK FROM THE DEAD) is driving back to her job in New York when she's detoured by a road block. Not just any local yokel police roadblock either, but the U.S. Army. What the hell is the United States Army doing out in the middle of Nowhere, Illinois?
The soldiers have strict orders not to tell, no not even the press: Especially the press.
Audrey is resourceful and persistent however, and soon has an audience with Captain James Barton (James Seay: WHEN WORLD'S COLLIDE, WAR OF THE WORLDS, KILLERS FROM SPACE, PHANTOM FROM SPACE, THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, PANIC IN THE CITY). Barton introduces her to Col. Tom Sturgeon (Thomas Browne Henry: ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER [TV], EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS, BLOOD OF DRACULA, THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE, SPACE MASTER X-7, HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER). The Colonel, however, is a busy man, but he eventually let's her see Ludlow so long as she holds off on the reporting the news for now. After all, 150 people are missing, presumed dead, and "We don't know what happened and that's that, thank you very much!" from the federal government, can cause a panic.
Reconnoitering with her editor by phone she soon finds out that the United States Department of Agriculture has a lab in that area where they use radiation for something or other. Who knows what's going on out there, but you should talk to Dr. Ed Wainwright!
Trying to piece together a story, Audrey drives out to the lab where she meets a deaf mute researcher (a side effect of the radiation he's working with. Radiation can be dangerous if you're not careful but, What a trooper!) and handsome Project Director Ed (Peter Graves: RED PLANET MARS, KILLERS FROM SPACE, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, SCREAM OF THE WOLF, WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? THE CLONUS HORROR, DEATH CAR ON THE FREEWAY, ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL [1999], MEN IN BLACK II).
Okay, so why does the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture want with radioactive isotopes? Why, to grow giant tomatoes and strawberries! We could end world hunger with giant radioactive veggies!
Audrey is all, "You mean its safe to eat radioactive fruits and vegetables?"
"No," answers the openly honest, tall, clean-shaven, dashing but daft egghead with an athletic build and a head of blonde hair. "Not yet!" he adds hopefully.
Audry wants to pursue her story, but she also wants to pursue Dr. Ed. Will he show her where that silo that got destroyed is?
No, he's busy with his work.
A disappointed Audrey returns to the Army, gets her camera, and finally gets a chance to see the town of Ludlow, escorted by Capt. Barton. She's disheartened by the destruction and takes photos for the story she'll write as soon as she's allowed. As she drives Barton back to town, she confides that Ludlow reminds her of the devastation she saw while reporting the war.
When they arrive, Barton is creepy enough to suggest having a few drinks (that will take her mind off of the fresh Horror of Ludlow!) and, by way of conversation mentions the seemingly impossible: The destruction of Ludlow reminds him of what happened to a grain silo just a few months ago.
What?!?
This happened before?!?
Oh sure! Well, kind of.
Captain Barton's charmless approach repels Audrey so she drives out to give Dr. Wainwright another chance. Will he show her the silo now?
Well sure he will! And say, we'll bring along my deaf mute research partner Frank (Than Wyenn: THE INVISIBLE BOY, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN [TV]), because he's the plant expert!
What? Frank is the botanist doing all of this? Then wait. What do you do?
"Oh I'm an entomologist," says the beefy boffin. "Insects and plants can't live without each other, you know."
Well no shit? That's pretty much the way it is for all life on earth, except maybe extremophiles.
Even though this is a black and white movie, Frank the deaf mute goes with them as an obvious Red Shirt. Soon they are at the abandoned farm and are missing one radiation damaged scientist.
On the other hand they gained a shit load of giant locusts!
THAT'S RIGHT, MF! I SAID GIANT F'n LOCUSTS! GD RADIATION, MAN! WHEN WILL THESE A-HOLE HOLLYWOOD SCIENTISTS LEARN?
Anyway back at the makeshift headquarters in town, Col. Tom Sturgeon poo-poos Ed and Audry's account of giant grasshoppers. 150 people are missing! This is no time for nonsense! Still, Ed and Audry are so adamant that the Colonel sends in a platoon to see what's going on out there.
After his platoon is turned into a squad, Sturgeon passes the baton to General John Hanson.
General Hanson (Morris Ankrum: THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLEN POE, ROCKETSHIP X-M, FLIGHT TO MARS, RED PLANET MARS, INVADERS FROM MARS, HALF HUMAN, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU, KRONOS, THE GIANT CLAW, GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN, HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER, CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES) is on the case and can't be bothered by these damn scientists and their deductive reasoning!
"Dr. Wainright, you're a scientist, you know what grasshoppers can do. I'm a soldier, I know what guns can do."
- General Hanson
Hanson is especially not going to listen to advice coming from the one scientist who admits he caused all of this!
"The grasshoppers must have got into our lab, ate our radioactive plants, and turned into giants. I did not see that coming."
- Dr. Wainwright in summary.
Okay, as we saw at the silo, regular combat rifles didn't work against the thick exoskeletons of the locusts. Which is strange because those guns were specifically designed to fire a bullet that can penetrate the comparatively gelatinous flesh of a human being. So a contrite Hanson takes it on the chin.
"A lot soldiers died, I feel bad enough, you don't have to rub it in, they're heading for Chicago, so it's time to nuke the City."
- Gen. Hanson in summary
Dr. Wainwright thinks dropping an A-Bomb on Chicago is a bad idea and he says so.
Fine, Mister high and mighty Scientist! So, what should we do be do?
Dr. Wainwright has no idea. He never had to fight giant a locust before, let alone hundreds of them.
Produced and Directed by Bert I. Gordon (KING DINOSAUR, THE CYCLOPS, THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST, ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE, THE SPIDER, TORMENTED, FAMOUS GHOST STORIES, VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS, PICTURE MOMMY DEAD, NECROMANCY, THE FOOD OF THE GODS, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, BURNED AT THE STAKE, SATAN'S PRINCESS, SECRETS OF A PSYCHOPATH), and like nearly all of his movies for whatever else they lack - which is plenty - BEGINNING OF THE END is a fast-paced 74 minutes and never boring.
Ridiculous? Yes.
Bert spent his life coming up with great concepts that were poorly executed. Though in this, his second feature film, he was still learning and the great concept was based entirely on the giant radioactive ants in the box office hit, THEM.
Bert also knew he was working ultra low budget on difficult, too short time lines (extremely limited number of takes and often no rehearsals), but he still believed he could come out a better director through these trials by fire and, one day, pull off a great movie.
He never did.
Bert struggled to suspend disbelief and have his characters behave and interact as normally with each other as possible under the extreme circumstances they found themselves in. He wanted them to have a life interrupted by the fantastic, which is the best way to present such movies.
Bert knew what good storytelling was, he just didn't know how to do it himself (you don't have to be a great chef to know if the food is delicious or garbage).
Unfortunately, and despite how much he wanted to, he could never pull off such a movie on the budgets he was given, and always accepting on such jobs, guaranteed that they'd be the only kind he ever got. Nobody responsible to the investors in a big budget picture is going to offer it to the guy who made movies like BEGINNING OF THE END.
What did this lead to? So far, no director was ever roasted by MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 as much as Gordon.
And yet its not solely because of MST3K that his work endures and still gains fan recognition. Watching a Bert I. Gordon movie gives me an odd feeling of sincerity to it all. His movies never feel like he was some cash grab director looking down upon his audience. He hired actors who were better at what they do than what he could do, and he gave them the close-ups and time in those serious moments to convey the best they could through the filter of the best he could.
Like most of Bert I. Gordon's work, you won't feel like you wasted your time watching this claptrap and its unintentionally laughable cheap SFX, but you'll likely never want to see it twice.
Three Negative Shriek Girls
This review copyright 2024 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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