Killers from Space

Last updated
Killers from Space
Killers from space.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by W. Lee Wilder
Written by
Produced byW. Lee Wilder
Starring
Narrated by Mark Scott
Cinematography William H. Clothier
Edited byWilliam Faris
Music byManuel Compinsky
Production
companies
  • Planet Filmplays, Inc.
  • RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • January 23, 1954 (1954-01-23) [1]
Running time
71 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Killers from Space (also known as The Man Who Saved the Earth) is a 1954 American independent science fiction film produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder, and starring Peter Graves, Barbara Bestar, Frank Gerstle, James Seay, and Steve Pendleton. Shot in black-and-white, the film originated as a commissioned screenplay from Wilder's son Myles Wilder and their regular collaborator William Raynor. [2]

Contents

Lee Wilder's production company, Planet Filmplays, usually producing on a financing-for-distribution basis for United Artists, wound up making this film for RKO Radio Pictures distribution.

Plot

Dr. Douglas Martin is a nuclear scientist working on atomic bomb tests. While collecting aerial data on a United States Air Force (USAF) atomic blast at Soledad Flats, the pilot loses control of their aircraft and they crash. Dr Martin appears to have survived, unhurt, walking back to the air base with no memory of what happened. On his chest is a strange scar that was not there before the crash.

At the base hospital, Martin acts so strangely that the USAF brings in the FBI to investigate, thinking he might be an impostor. He is eventually cleared but told to take some time off. Martin protests being excluded from his project while on leave.

When an atomic test is set off without his knowledge, Martin steals the data, then goes back to Soledad Flats and places the information under a stone. An FBI agent follows him, but Martin is able to elude him until he crashes his car. Now back at the hospital, he is given truth serum. Deep under the drug's influence, Martin tells a story about being held captive by space aliens, led by Denab, in their underground base. The aliens, with large, bulging eyes, are from the planet Astron Delta, ruled by a being called The Tala. They had revived his lifeless body as he had died in his aircraft.

The aliens plan to exterminate humanity using giant insects and reptiles, grown with the radiation absorbed from our own atomic bomb tests. Martin intuits that the aliens use stolen electric grid power to control their powerful equipment. This so that the A-bomb's released energy levels can be predicted and then balanced. The aliens wiped his memory and hypnotized him into collecting the data for them.

The FBI agent and the base commander are skeptical of this incredible story and keep him confined at the hospital. Nevertheless, the attending physician says that Martin genuinely believes that what he told them is true.

With calculations made using a slide rule, Martin determines that if he shuts off the power to Soledad Flats for just 10 seconds, it will create an overload in the aliens' equipment. He escapes from the hospital and goes to the nearby electrical power plant, where he forces a technician to turn off the power. After 10 seconds, the alien base is destroyed in a massive explosion, saving the Earth from conquest.

Cast

Production

Advertisement from 1954 Center Theatre Ad - 4 March 1954, Fremont, CA.jpg
Advertisement from 1954

Under the working title of The Man Who Saved the Earth, production took place from early- to mid-July 1953 at KTTV Studios. [3] Scenes featuring the cavern hideout of the aliens were shot in Bronson Canyon in Los Angeles. [4]

The effect for the aliens in the film was done by Harry Thomas. He was told to make large eyes for them, albeit on a cheap budget, since glass eyes would have cost too much. Needing an idea, he found it while looking in his refrigerator: plastic egg trays, of which he used the top portion by cutting it with a heated screwdriver. He then cut little holes with the screwdriver. Owing to a lack of further time meant that he did not do further work that he would have liked to do, such as sealing the sides with cotton. [5]

Reception and legacy

Killers from Space was released as a B-movie, hampered by low production values and a minuscule budget.

In 2006, film reviewer Thomas Scalzo also noted: "Killers From Space is an enjoyable, if slow-going, sci-fi / horror diversion, and if these killers from space had somehow found a way to stop their yammering long enough to get on with some actual killing, the combination of Peter Graves, mutant insects and amphibians, a palpable atmosphere of ’50s atomic fear, and the directorial efforts of Billy Wilder’s brother, would have been enough to bump the film into the upper echelon of early sci-fi essentials". [6]

In 2006 skeptic Dr. Aaron Sakulich noted similarities between the film and many alien abduction stories that would first appear over a decade later, such as the medical testing done by the aliens, the protagonist's strange scar, his memory erasure, the aliens' giant eyes, and their way of mind control. [7]

In 2007, The Film Crew , consisting of Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy and Michael J. Nelson from the cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 , mocked the film in its entirety. [8] They revisited the film in 2019 with new commentary under the Rifftrax banner. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. R. Giger</span> Swiss artist (1940–2014)

Hans Ruedi Giger was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as "biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, markers and ink. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for the visual design of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien, and was responsible for creating the titular Alien itself. His work is on permanent display at the H.R. Giger Museum in Gruyères, Switzerland. His style has been adapted to many forms of media, including album covers, furniture, tattoos and video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannibal Lecter</span> Character created by Thomas Harris

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by the American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling to help them find other serial killers.

Grey aliens, also referred to as Zeta Reticulans, Roswell Greys or Grays, are purported extraterrestrial beings. They are frequent subjects of close encounters and alien abduction claims. The details of such claims vary widely, however Greys are typically described as being human-like with small bodies, smooth, grey-colored skin; enlarged, hairless heads; and large, black eyes. The Barney and Betty Hill abduction claim, which purportedly took place in New Hampshire in 1961, popularized Grey aliens. Precursor figures have been described in science fiction and similar descriptions appeared in early accounts of the 1948 Aztec UFO hoax and later accounts of the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip J. Klass</span> UFO researcher (1919–2005)

Philip Julian Klass was an American journalist, and UFO researcher, known for his skepticism regarding UFOs. In the ufological and skeptical communities, Klass inspires polarized appraisals. He has been called the "Sherlock Holmes of UFOlogy". Klass demonstrated "the crusader's zeal for what seems 'right,' regardless of whether it brings popular acclaim," a trait he claimed his father instilled in him. "I've found," said Klass, "that roughly 97, 98 percent of the people who report seeing UFOs are fundamentally intelligent, honest people who have seen something—usually at night, in darkness—that is unfamiliar, that they cannot explain." The rest, he said, were frauds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hoyt</span> American actor

John Hoyt was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Seay</span> American actor (1914–1992)

James Seay was an American character actor who often played minor supporting roles as government officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shepard Menken</span> American actor (1921–1999)

Shepard Menken was an American film, television, voice, radio character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bellero Shield</span> 20th episode of the 1st season of The Outer Limits

"The Bellero Shield" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 10 February 1964, during the first season.

<i>Arrival II</i> 1998 American science fiction film

Arrival ll, is a 1998 American science fiction direct-to-video film directed by Kevin S. Tenney. The film is a sequel to the 1996 film The Arrival. It was written by Mark David Perry and based on characters created by David Twohy. Arrival II stars Patrick Muldoon, Michael Sarrazin, Jane Sibbett, Catherine Blythe, Michael Scherer, and Larry Day.

<i>Monstrosity</i> (film) 1964 American film

Monstrosity is a 1963 American science fiction horror film produced by Jack Pollexfen and Dean Dillman Jr. and directed by Joseph V. Mascelli. The film stars Marjorie Eaton, Frank Gerstle, Erika Peters, and Xerxes the cat. It tells the story of a wealthy elderly woman who wants to have her brain transplanted into the head of a young woman. Actor Bradford Dillman, the younger brother of co-writer and producer Dean Dillman, Jr., narrated the film.

Pilot (<i>The X-Files</i>) Pilot episode of The X-Files

"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode aired on September 10, 1993, on the Fox network in the United States and Canada, and subsequently aired in the United Kingdom on BBC Two. The episode was written by series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Robert Mandel. As the pilot, it would set up the mythology storyline for the series. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 7.9 and was viewed by 7.4 million households and 12.0 million viewers. The episode itself was generally well received by fans and critics alike, which led to a growing cult following for the series before it hit the mainstream.

<i>The Atomic Kid</i> 1954 film by Leslie H. Martinson

The Atomic Kid is a 1954 American black-and-white science fiction comedy film directed by Leslie H. Martinson and starring Mickey Rooney and Robert Strauss. It was distributed by Republic Pictures and produced by Maurice Duke and Mickey Rooney.

<i>Galaxy Invader</i> 1985 film directed by Don Dohler

Galaxy Invader is a 1985 American direct-to-video science fiction film directed and co-written by Baltimore filmmaker Don Dohler. The film's plot centers around alien who is pursued by hillbillies after his spaceship crash-lands on Earth. The cast is made of entirely non-professional actors, mainly friends and family of Dohler.

<i>Phantom from Space</i> 1953 film by W. Lee Wilder

Phantom from Space is a 1953 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder that stars Ted Cooper, Noreen Nash, Dick Sands, and Burt Wenland. The original screenplay was written by William Raynor and Myles Wilder. Working with most of the same crew, this was one of several early 1950s films made by Wilder and son Myles on a financing-for-distribution basis with United Artists and, on occasion, RKO Radio Pictures.

<i>Silence! The Musical</i>

Silence! The Musical is a 2005 musical created by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan as a parody of the 1991 Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs, which is in turn based on 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. The musical is itself based on a parody screenplay of the same name written by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midnite Movies</span>

Midnite Movies is a line of B movies released first on VHS and later on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment. The line was begun by MGM in March 2001 following its acquisition of Orion Pictures, which bought out Filmways, the owner of American International Pictures. AIP had a library of B movies from the 1950s and 1960s that were science fiction, horror, and exploitation films. The Midnite Movies collection was primarily derived from the AIP library but also included Hammer Film Productions, Amicus Productions, United Artists, Cannon Films, and Empire International Pictures films as well. The DVDs were first released as single films, but most later releases would be double features on single double-sided discs. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment later became owners of the MGM library and continued the "Midnite Movies" line with distributor 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. All double feature titles released on the 20th Century Fox label were two-disc packages. By 2011, no new titles were forthcoming; the previous catalog titles slowly went out of print and the Midnite Movies website was taken down.

"The Bringers of Wonder, Part Two" is the eighteenth episode of the second series of Space: 1999. The screenplay was written by Terence Feely; the director was Tom Clegg. The final shooting script is dated 23 June 1976. Live-action filming took place Wednesday 25 August 1976 through Tuesday 28 September 1976. A day of second-unit filming was completed on Tuesday 30 November 1976. This was the series' only two-part episode.

<i>The Whispers</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

The Whispers is an American science fiction drama television series created and co-executive produced by Soo Hugh with executive producers Steven Spielberg, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Dawn Olmstead for ABC Studios. It is based loosely on the 1951 Ray Bradbury short story "Zero Hour" from The Illustrated Man. The pilot episode was ordered to series on May 8, 2014, and debuted on ABC on June 1, 2015. On October 19, 2015, ABC canceled the series after one season.

Planets Against Us is a 1962 Italian-French science fiction horror film directed by Romano Ferrara, based on a story by Massimo Rendina. It is also known by the names Planets Around Us, Hands of a Killer, The Man With the Yellow Eyes and The Monster with Green Eyes. It is notable for featuring a planned invasion by cyborgs, humanoid shaped robots, rather than the common sci-fi film plot of aliens inhabiting, taking-over or duplicating humans.

References

  1. "Detail View" 'Killers from Space'." American Film Institute. Retrieved: June 1, 2014.
  2. Johnston 2011, p. 78.
  3. "Original print information: 'Killers from Space'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: May 3, 2016.
  4. "Notes: 'Killers from Space'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: May 3, 2016.
  5. "Killer's from Space".
  6. Scalzo, Thomas. "Review: 'Killers from Space'. NotComing.com, 2006. Retrieved: May 3, 2016,
  7. Sakulich, Aaron. "The Iron Skeptic: Killers from Space". The Iron Skeptic. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  8. The Film Crew: Killers from Space (Video 2007) - IMDb
  9. Rifftrax - Killers From Space

Bibliography

  • Johnston, Keith M. Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2011. ISBN   978-1-8478-8476-3.
  • Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties, 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. ISBN   0-89950-032-3.