Killers from Space

This is the definitive low-budget early-1950s sci-fi movie.

Not bad enough to go down in the annals of the worst movies ever made, but it comes close. Part of the "problem" from that perspective is that Peter Graves is pretty good in the lead, and the special effects aren't as horrific as the Ed Wood movies. There are also some mainstays of B and C movies of the Fifties in supporting roles, such as my longtime favorite Frank Gerstle. I always wanted to grow up to be like Frank Gerstle but unfortunately never succeeded. Sure, we get to see some wild beasts that are obviously running on a film screen, but that is OK. It's all good fun.

I get the horrible rating on here. But...

The cold war, guys in suits smoking cigarettes half of this movie is great. The cast is great and the story is interesting. A 6 or 7.

The aliens underground part of the movie is truly atrocious. Even if you enjoy close up footage of insects it is still trash. So bad. A 1 or 2.

But i find this movie overall enjoyable, hence I gave an almost respectable 5.

I didn't think it was that bad of a movie. It has more drama, and mystery and not as much horror than I expected. The story does move a little slow but it did keep my attention. The so called special effects can fairly be called poor. A lot of attention by reviewers has been given to the aliens big eyes. The aliens did look pretty strange and almost laughable but did everyone miss the comparison there is to the big eyes of the so called "grays" that are supposedly being seen by people today. How about the abductees that talk about being probed and operated on by aliens today? This movie did have aliens with bulging eyes doing an operation on a human in 1954. I have trouble calling this a good movie, but I cannot really call it a bad movie either. I think it's worth watching. Don't expect too much, and view it objectively. You might like it.

Pretty bad. The premise is the test pilot, Peter Graves, is saved by a group of creatures from Astron Delta after a certain fatal crash. He acts irrationally after finding his way back to the base. The aliens look like a

hybrid of Marty Feldman and Eddy Cantor. They are on earth, setting up an environment for their doomed species. Graves has been brainwashed and sent on his way to bring secrets back to the aliens. If it weren't so dull, it would be genuinely funny. There is a scene where Graves runs through a series of tunnels for 10 minutes, getting nowhere. No one believes him when he tells the truth under sodium pentathol. For some reason these creatures have felt the need to tell their emissary every secret of their existence. This is a fatal flaw which inevitably gets so many villains in trouble. Pretty silly all the way around.

Peter Graves, all jut-jawed seriousness and desire to do good for the world, is nuclear scientist Dr. Doug Martin. (One of his earliest lead roles.) After an atom bomb test, he disappears in a plane crash. Later, he resurfaces, but he doesn't seem to be quite the same man as before. During an inquiry during which he is supposedly incapable of being imaginative, he tells his colleagues and friends a wild story: he was temporarily abducted by bug-eyed aliens. They intend to use him as an instrument in their scheme to take over the world. Naturally, nobody believes Dougs' story, but he's determined to foil the aliens before it's too late.

Passably directed by Billy Wilders' less talented brother W. Lee Wilder, "Killers from Spaces" is actually reasonably engrossing - provided the viewer has a soft spot for micro-budget 50s cheese. It tells a pretty entertaining story, with a lot of exposition shoved into the confrontation between Doug and the nefarious extraterrestrials. And these E.T.s are so wonderfully tacky with their egg-carton eyes and bargain basement wardrobe. The special effects are likewise endearing in their own way, with the standout sequence being Dougs' attempted escape from the cavern: he is overwhelmed by a variety of Earth animals that the creatures are manipulating into becoming giants. The music, cinematography, and atmosphere are all pretty enjoyable for this kind of sci-fi fare. The performances are on point: obviously not award-worthy, but effective in their sincerity. Co-starring are James Seay (also in the directors' "Phantom from Space"), Steve Pendleton ("The Great Missouri Raid"), Frank Gerstle ("Monstrosity"), John Frederick ("Blindman"), Barbara Bestar ("Navajo Trail Raiders"), Shepard Menken ("The Phantom Tollbooth"), and future prolific trailer narrator Ron Gans as a sentry.

While hardly a "quality" production, a movie like "Killers from Space" packs more earnest entertainment into its trim running time (71 minutes in this case) than some of the mega-budget movies of the modern era.

Six out of 10.