Killers from Space (1954)...spoilers

Killers from Space (1954) Directed by W. Lee Wilder (Phantom from Space)

After a few minutes of narration and grainy Air Force stock footage, we see an atomic test explosion in the desert. Circling above in a jet fighter are Dr. Douglas Martin (Peter Graves) and his pilot. Doug is a nuclear scientist and he is taking radiation readings and such. They spot a shiny rock on the desert floor and fly close to investigate and lose control of the plane.

Next we see a helicopter (actually a couple of different ones) dispatched to the crash site. Back in the Colonel's office Doug's wife waits for word of her husband. She receives bad news, the pilot was found dead in the wreck and no sign of Doug. They assume he was blown to bits or something of the sort.

Well, next thing you know Doug is stumbling up to the front gate of the base. When the doctor examines him he appears okay except for a big, well healed scar on the left side of his chest that wasn't there before . Doug doesn't remember anything about the crash or how he got back to the base, he seems really obssessed about his work, though. The FBI considers him a security risk so they revoke his clearance.

Doug gets really p**sed when they won't tell him about the next test and he reads about it in the morning paper. He goes down to talk to the Colonel and is told to go home. Instead he hangs around the office until his colleague Dr. Kruger (Kurt Grestle) leaves. He breaks into the safe in Krugers office and copies some information from the classified files.

Doug drives to the desert, while the AP at the base finds the open safe. The FBI gets Kruger back to the base to answer questions about the open safe. They figure out Doug did it (he left some pipe tobacco behind). Doug arrives near the plane crash site and starts to place a note under a rock, when the FBI agent grabs him (amazing that they do an investigation, go to his house, and yet the FBI guy has time to beat Doug to his destination). They fight and Doug gets the better of him and flees. Time for an all points bulletin.

They finally grab Doug after he wrecks his car. When they get him back to the hospital the doctor injects him with truth serum. Doug starts singing.

He tells them how he woke up on a table in a cave with strange guys with big eyes (think 3 stooges and fried eggs) and bushie eyebrows. He watches them place his heart back in his chest and heal the wound (seems Dougie was dead when they found him). He is then taken to their leader who tells him of a coming invasion.

Doug doesn't cooperate when they want him to give them info on future nuclear tests, so they throw him in a cavern where he encounters lots of rear-projected giant bugs and lizards.The leader tells him that is how they are going to conquer Earth. They have been capturing the energy from the atomic blasts and storing it to use for mutating the giant insects. The energy from one more blast will allow them to accelerate the breeding cycles of the beasties and they can set them loose on the unsuspecting world. They end up hynotizing Doug to help them and they set him free.

Well, nobody believes Doug, they think he's gone off the deep end. Once he comes out from under the drug and remembers everything he figures out that the aliens are syphoning off electricity from a local power plant to contain the nuclear energy. If the containment field is shut off, the chain reaction will blow the aliens and their giant critters to smithereens.

He gets to work with slide rule and pencil and figures out that if they shut down the power grid for a few seconds it will be enough to do the job. The problem is, Doug still has credibility issues. So he takes his wife's keys, breaks out of the hospital (still in his jammies) and heads for the power plant.

After beating up a couple of power plant workers, and holding one at gun point, he finally manages to shut the power down. There is a big explosion and everyone believes him now. The World is Saved!!

W. Lee Wilder was the quite a bit less talented kid brother of the famous director Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution). I have to give the guy credit for trying to make his plots somewhat intelligent. I enjoyed the Phantom from Space (even if they did use the helmet from Robot Montster) and this movie would've have been pretty decent if it weren't for the aliens who look like the Java-Man from MadTV. Hard to be scared of something while you're trying to pick yourself up off the floor from laughing.

I am actually considering searching for some of W. Lee's other gems. There is one called the Omegans that has Ingrid Pitt bathing in river.

This would also not be Peter Graves worst movie.

I got this on a double feature DVD with Phantom from Space for $1.

Post Edited (04-07-05 15:57)