The Film Crew: Killers From Space

2007, USA

Shout! Factory

Writers: Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, Michael. J. Nelson

Starring: Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, Michael. J. Nelson

Producers: Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, Michael. J. Nelson

Genre: Comedy

Running Time: 79 minutes

Buy it: Here

It’s been too long since Mystery Science Theatre 3000 was on the air. Many of the show’s fans have grown up, or gotten girlfriends who sit on the couch in absolute bafflement while they're made to watch a guy and two robots make fun of 1983 sci-fi debacle Pod People. But while the girlfriends will shortly begin reading In Touch magazine, the true MST3K fan will never move on, never forget the sheer joy, hilarity, and occasionally bafflingly oblique pop culture reference that made that show’s celebration of crap movies so enjoyable. Inspired by horror hosts and their sarcastic asides on late-night TV, the show had an 11-year run that ended in 1999, but the spirit of the show has returned with Shout! Factory’s The Film Crew series. These DVD releases feature three of the writers and performers behind the original show, namely Bill Corbett, the voice of Crow T. Robot for the last 3 seasons of the show, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo), and Michael J. Nelson, the head writer and host of the latter half of the series. While some of the magic has been left behind with the robots, the Satellite of Love, and the bizarre prop comedy inspired by original host Joel Hodgson, the basic premise remains the same, in which a bad film is made entertaining by the cast members providing running commentary.

Killers From Space

1954, USA

Director: W. Lee Wilder

Writers: William Raynor, Myles Wilder (story)

Producer: W. Lee Wilder

Starring: Peter Graves, James Seay, Steve Pendleton, Frank Gerstle

Genre: Science Fiction

Running Time: 71 minutes

 
Killers From Space is the second release from the Film Crew, and it features the same sort of humor that made MST3K a cult hit. The mix of deliberate dad jokes and quick wit is layered with complex pop-culture references thankfully free of Dennis Miller-esque self-satisfaction, and spiced up with an occasional oral sex line to blindside you should the terrible movie lull you into complacency.

 
And what a terrible movie it is. Mission Impossible actor Peter Graves stars as a scientist who’s killed in a plane crash while studying an atomic test. He mysteriously shows up alive hours later, acting strangely. The army begins to investigate whether his behavior is the result of illness, insanity, or perhaps getting brainwashed by bug-eyed aliens with grandpa-eyebrows who want to take over the world with giant insects and lizards. Turns out Occam’s razor is wrong, and the more complex explanation is indeed the correct one. Graves must try and convince the army that the aliens, their golf-ball-based eye prosthetics, and the Blue-Lagoon­-era-Brooke-Shields brow hair are indeed real. The movie is mercifully short, and the running time is kept lively by the Film Crew’s commentary. The DVD also features some brief faked outtakes, helping to cleanse the palate for the next Film Crew offering, or at least the next In Touch article.

Rating: 8 on 10

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