Killers from Space

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Killers from Space

Directed by	W. Lee Wilder
Produced by	W. Lee Wilder
Written by	William Raynor and Myles Wilder
Starring	Peter Graves Barbara Bestar James Seay William Gerstle
Music by	Manuel Compinsky
Cinematography	William H. Clothier
Editing by	William Faris
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	January 23, 1954, re-released 1956
Language	English

Killers from Space is a 1954 American black and white science fiction feature film, produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder (brother of Billy Wilder) from an original, commissioned screenplay by his son Myles Wilder and their regular collaborator William Raynor, and starring Peter Graves and Barbara Bestar. Lee Wilder's independent production company, Planet Filmplays Inc., usually producing on a financing-for-distribution basis for United Artists, made this film for RKO-Radio Pictures distribution. The film was released on DVD with a mockumentary track by The Film Crew

1 Plot Summary
2 Cast
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

Dr. Douglas Martin is a scientist working on an atomic energy project. While flying over Soledad Flats, his plane crashes. He survives unhurt except for a strange scar on his chest.

At the hospital, he does not remember what happened. He acts so strangely that the doctors bring in the FBI, thinking he may be an impostor. He is cleared, but told to take some time off.

Dr. Martin reads in a newspaper about atomic tests at Soledad Flats. He steals some papers about the atomic test, goes back to Soledad Flats and puts them under a stone. He is chased by a guard, crashes the car, captured and given truth serum back at the hospital. He tells a story about being captured by space aliens from Astron Delta, who have giant bugs at their disposal. The aliens have big eyes like hard boiled eggs.

The ill-fated aliens of Killers From Space

He remembers under the truth serum that one of the space aliens told him to steal the papers and "bring them to the stone." The doctors and military men think he is crazy.

Dr. Martin does some calculations and determines that if he shuts off the power to Soledad Flats for ten seconds, it will destroy the aliens' equipment. So he goes to the electrical power plant serving the area and forces the attendant to turn off the power. This causes some kind of electrical problem that destroys the aliens and the monsters and saves the planet.

[edit] Cast

Peter Graves (left) receives instructions from an alien in Killers from Space.

Peter Graves as Dr. Douglas Martin
Frank Gerstle as Dr. Curt Kruger
James Seay as Col. Banks
Steve Pendleton as Briggs
Barbara Bestar as Ellen Martin
Shepard Menken as Major Clift
Jack Daly as Power House Guard
Ron Kennedy as Sgt. Powers, Sentry
Ben Welden as Tar Baby 2 Pilot
Burt Wenland as Sergeant Bandero
Lester Dorr as Gas Station Attendant
Robert Roark as Guard
Ruth Bennett as Miss Vincent
Mark Scott as Narrator

[edit] Trivia

At the beginning of the 2006 video game Prey, the player may turn on the TV which has two channels, one of which is a clip from Killers from Space. The other is a clip from the civil defense educational film Duck and Cover.