KILLERS FROM SPACE

No matter what you may wish to believe, folks, aliens really do live among us. They work in our shops. They govern our constituencies. They educate our children. Plus they star in this 71 minute movie made in 1954, Directed by W. L. Wilder; and Starring: Peter Graves, Frank Gerstle, James Seay, and Barbara Bestar. Nannoo-Nannooooo!


Killers From Space (1954)

THE STORY:

Could it possibly be true? Or could the nuclear scientist, Doug Martin (Peter Graves), be making up that strange story he tells the rest of his military personal?

Well, you've got to take into consideration that Doug has been acting rather weird since he's been missing in action over the last couple of days. To start of with, he can't remember what's happened to him during this period. Or even explain away why he has that peculiar scar on his chest, or turned into a thief either.   

Yeah. I'm not chocking you chicken, pal. For some unknown reason, Doug decides to break into the offices of his colleague, Dr. Curt Kruger (Frank Gerstle), and steal some top-secret documents from his filling cabinet. Furthermore, once Briggs (Steve Pendleton), the FBI Agent that's hot on his tail, catches up to him, Doug punches him in the face for no apparent reason whatsoever.

Hey! Don't you fret though! Doug does come to his senses sooner or later, primed and ready to tell the rest of his military personal a strange story about aliens taking over the Earth.

Ah-huh. That's right. I said 'Aliens'. Still. That's most probably why what next transpires all goes pear-shaped when a yarn seems somewhat far-fetched. As Aliens talk shop - a scientist goes pop - the military disregards a drill - and at the end of the day, don't forget, always pay your electricity bill.

THE REVIEW:

Now there are four observations I'd like to make about 'Killers from Space' before I then slag it off. Firstly, the special effects are crap. Really crap. And can only be called nth rated at best. Secondly, all of the acting on show is what I would call rather wooden and mannered to say the least. Cardboard even. Thirdly, the story isn't a bad one overall. Kind of pithy in places. And has that suspenseful angle to it that was quite bold for its time. Plus fourthly, the conclusion to this film is... is... is... hmmm? How can I explain this?

Oh! I know. In the last ten minutes of this movie our hero devises a fairly simple plan to stop the Aliens from shagging the Earth. However, his military bosses don't believe him at all. No. They don't. They think he's making up this Aliens threat because he acted like a loon previously.

So what does our hero do to combat this stance? Try to explain to them as best he can why he is right and they are wrong? Nope. That would be too obvious. Instead, he goes bonkers, and -- to cut a long story short -- he does what he wanted to do in the first place, and turns off the electricity grid for ten... whole... seconds.

Boom! Game over.

OK. I know that this scenario may sound very strange when taken out of context, folks. But let me tell you something. It is as simple as that. Click! The electric goes off. Boom! The Aliens go Nanoo-Nannoo!

Also, something else that is very strange about 'Killers from Space', are those not so special effect's I mentioned before. I mean, just look at some of the pictures provided. Or imagine a couple of insects and lizards blown up upon a projector screen. Does that sound scary to you? It doesn't to me. And neither did it to the people who watched this flick all those years ago.

Here, check out some of these filmic-facts for some back-story on this sci-fi adventure. (1) 'RKO Radio Pictures' first released this production on the very same day that the bass player from 'KC & the Sunshine Band', Richard Finch, was born -- the 23rd of January, 1954. (2) Myles Wilder, who was one of the two co-writers assigned to this project, is the nephew of the Oscar winning 'Some like It Hot' director, Billy Wilder. Moreover, the producer / director that was assigned to this project, W. L. Wilder, is Billy's brother, and Myles' Dad. (3) The tag-line used to promote this film was 'INVASION FROM ANOTHER PLANET'. (4) Loosely translated, this picture was entitled 'Murderers from Space' in Chile; 'The War between the Planets' in Italy; and 'The Killers from Venus Space' in France. (5) Even though it was very uncommon for the time -- the 1950's -- you may notice that the credits seen in this movie appear at the end of it and not at the beginning. (6) 'Triton Multimedia/Slingshot' released a DVD version of this adventure that includes additional green-hued inserts and special effects shots, pertaining to our hero being zapped at by the aliens. (7) In the multi-player shoot-em-up published by '2K Games' -- called 'Prey' -- you are given the option to switch between two television channels' at the start of it. One of these channels show's a clip from this film. (8) The caves used in this movie -- the Bronson Caves, located in Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Los Angeles -- can also be seen in the 1956 classic, 'The Searchers', the 1992 horror-comedy, 'Army Of Darkness', the 2002 yawn-tastic, 'Cabin Fever', plus the 1966 version of the 'Batman' television series.

Overall I'd say that 'Killers from Space' is a pretty so-so film. Hey! It's not completely cr*p. No. Far from it. There were parts to this adventure which were way ahead of its time. But not in the special effects department though. They were cr*p.

Still, whilst saying that, if you a big fan of vintage sci-fi please check it out. I'm sure you wouldn't be totally disappointed. I wasn't. 

THE RATING: B-