The genuinely gory horrors started, afa I can remember, just into the 70s, although the 1962 Lord of the Flies was not a lot of fun to be sure. I’m not a horror fan in the least, even twee 50s attempts, and site policy here is always the same … make reference to, provide conduits to go see for yourself … just not to run repugnant excrescences themselves here on the main page, e.g. any pic of Elton John or Clackers, no Podesta drawings.
50s “horror” is safe enough as a rule and I fully admit the ploy to undercut the actual horror presented … the ludicrous sfx in this one below are “safe enough”. As we’re very closely connected to libertarian themes at our alt-sites, that looks very much like censorship, that which I’m doing.
My riposte is to say that we always try to at least make reference to, or offer a conduit to, or give a clue to, those topics the media won’t touch … that’s part of our mission … and there are five separate places to choose to run them from … but another part of the mission here is to also present a reliable, daily compendium which is NOT going to suddenly show you a Hirst statue of a pregnant teen or some rainbow vileness or some other horror which cannot be unseen. You want that … go find it yourself. You want Sydney Sweeney’s bare funbags … go find them yourself.
On this movie, one wag noted:
One reviewer wrote:
“The film that helped usher in Hollywood’s giant bug craze, this isn’t half-bad. Special effects are pathetic even for the time, but the story is gripping enough and the acting first-rate. Peter Graves plays a scientist working on food growth via radiation. Grasshoppers get at these plants and grow to the size of a bus. They find humans much tastier than their usual fare. They invade Chicago after tearing up the countryside, and it’s a race to the finish to see whether anything can be done to stop them before the Army nukes Chicago. Morris “Colonel Fielding” Ankrum is a grumpy general, and Peggie Castle is a reporter investigating the story. Lots of fun. We never see the monsters actually come into contact with any of the humans they devour, but the closeup facial shots of various actors about to be eaten are priceless.”
The whole notion of grasshoppers is quite connected to the biblical locusts, and the title of this movie is also a giveaway … plus, if you think back to the 50s’ “paranoia”, if in fact it was paranoia … well, it’s not far removed from our situation right now in 2025.
Further post to come … once written at some stage.
At the time, these films were exciting to young kids, then I read an article by the late Arthur C Clarke, who pointed out that any creature which doubles in size, quadruples in mass, meaning that the legs of the giant ants, grasshoppers, etc, would not be able to support them due to the effects of gravity and air pressure. Education and knowledge are wonderful things, but it did spoil the enjoyment somewhat.
Peter Graves most memorable film part, by the way, has to be Capt Over in “Airplane”. I’ve never looked at “Gladiator” in the same light.