Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

KILLERS FROM SPACE

KILLERS FROM SPACE (1954). Director: W. Lee Wilder. 

"Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha! So -- you have discovered our menagerie!

Dr. Doug Martin (Peter Graves), who is working on nuclear fission experiments, crashes in the desert, is presumed dead, and comes back to the base an amnesiac. Then he recalls seeing strange men with ping pong eyes who experimented on him and showed him caverns full of monsters. Is he nuts -- or is Earth really on the verge of an alien invasion? John Merrick is the lead alien from dying planet Astron-Delta, and Barbara Bestar is Martin's wife, Ellen. The cavern scene, where Martin comes across giant-sized bugs and lizards which the aliens plan to unleash to consume Earth's populace, is both creepy and amusing. Pretty cheap and uninventive sci fi, but it is fun enough in its limited way. Director Wilder was the brother of the better-known Billy Wilder. To read more about this film see Creature Features

Verdict: Watch out for that yucky "menagerie." **1/2.

No comments: