I get a kick out of this flick because the story starts in downstate Illinois, near my hometown. As the monstrous grasshoppers head north, various other towns are identified, such as Rantoul, Gilroy and Paxton. We locals laugh because backgrounds show (Socal?) mountains--there are NONE in Illinois. It started as an experiment with (surprise) radioactivity, gone bad: gigantic tomatoes ==> mutant insects. My pa took me to this one and it seemed pretty cool to an 8 year old!