Bad Movie Buff Killers From Space review page 3

Denab explains that they saved Doug from the plane crash because they want him to deliver secrets to them to aid their energy-collection plans, though it seems the aliens were doing just fine without him. Doug feigns his willingness to help them; Denab can tell he's lying because the machine that shakes two old Coke bottles back and forth stops moving. Denab turns on the monitor where the face of his superior Tala appears. Tala is really played by the same actor; his pupils are just even more out of whack now. Disembodied talking heads are rarely a sign of a good film; check out The Brain that Wouldn't Die and Zardoz, or rather, don't. Tala hypnotises him into obedience, which explains the goofy actions Doug took in the film.

We finally return to Doug in his infirmary bed. He says that at the time, "I didn't realize I was being mesmerized" which, though grammatically correct, probably sounded less clunky then than it does today. Everyone else stands stunned in disbelief while I sit stunned in boredom. Angry that no one seems to believe him, Doug gets hysterical again, resulting in another shot from Clift. The men leave while Doug rests.

In the hallway, the Colonel voices his belief that Doug's story was just a big hallucination. The Doctor, however, objects by pointing out that he couldn't lie under the influence of sodium amethol. I guess it doesn't occur to the Doctor that someone recounting a hallucination isn't actually lying. Anyway, Doctor Clift proclaims that "Under the influence of sodium amethol, a patient loses all control of his imagination!". Sodium amethol is a fictional drug but I'm convinced something similar to it exists in modern Hollywood's drinking water.

        Later, Kruger visits the crash site, looking for the cave entrance in case Doug's story was based on fact. Briggs is already there, perhaps to finally retrieve the folded note before anyone else finds it and discovers the FBI employs morons. Briggs tells Kruger he won't find anything and another pointless scene fades out.

        Still on his infirmary bed, Doug furiously works on some calculations. He's convinced that the aliens are drawing power for all their goofy instruments from electricity, and thus from the local power plant. Kruger arrives as Doug requested. Ellen tells Kruger that Doug is "… feeling much better. He's got some paper and a slide rule." Kruger says, "That's interesting!" No it isn't. Ellen doesn't want Doug spazzing out again so she impersonates Laura Bush by telling Kruger "Whatever he's saying pretend to agree with him."

        Doug reveals his plan to shut down the area's power plant, which will let loose all the atomic energy the aliens have stored. Kruger pretends to agree with Doug while he touches Doug's knee for an uncomfortably long time. Doug gets paranoid and, following a brief tussle, escapes the atomic base infirmary and drives away despite being… oh whatever. They should just stick a big sign out front that says "US Military Atomic Test Base - do whatever the hell you want, we won't stop you".

        Eventually Doug reaches the power plant. The security there is as tight as it is at a US Military Atomic Test Base, so he easily sneaks his way around. He actually runs into a worker there and knocks him out. He takes an elevator to the control room. Soon afterward, everyone else gets to the elevator. We watch them wait for the elevator. We watch them give up on the elevator and move toward the stairs. We watch them leisurely ascend the stairs. Are they chasing Doug or did they book a tour?

In the control room Doug demands the worker shut down all power; the power worker protests, saying it'll stop power for a hundred miles around. The worker sneaks a gun from his desk drawer (I guess it gets depressing working in a windowless room all day) but laughably Doug just grabs it as easily as if the doofus handed it to him. He turns the gun on the worker and demands he shut everything down, while everyone else now reaches the control room.

In another hilariously ineffective move against Doug, Briggs jumps on him and tries to wrestle the gun away. It actually looks like Briggs is drunk and wants to comically rub his junk on Doug before getting shrugged off like an annoying dog. The worker gives in and shuts everything down. After eight seconds pass, a nuclear blast occurs near the test site, presumably destroying the ping-pong eye invaders and their third-rate zoo. All is saved, though I doubt the billion google-eyed folks back on their dying planet would stop trying to invade after only one failed attempt. Maybe this was a very early prequel to Plan 9.

Man, was this boring. Not Manos boring, but definitely boring compared to most '50s sci-fi. The bulk of the first half of the film takes place in small offices, almost to the point that the later scenes in the cave feel grandiose. I almost felt nostalgic for the vast leaps of logic and even clunkier dialogue in Ed Wood's films, if only to liven things. One thing I can't fault, however, is the acting. Peter Graves is Peter Graves, of course, but most of the other actors give decent enough performances and it's easy to see why James Seay (Col. Banks) and Steve Pendleton (Briggs, the worst FBI agent in the world) had such extensive acting resumes of their own.