Killers from Space

Killers from Space (also known as The Man Who Saved the Earth) is a 1954 American independent science fiction film produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder, and starring Peter Graves, Barbara Bestar, Frank Gerstle, James Seay, and Steve Pendleton. Shot in black-and-white, the film originated as a commissioned screenplay from Wilder's son Myles Wilder and their regular collaborator William Raynor.

Under the working title of The Man Who Saved the Earth, production took place from early- to mid-July 1953 at KTTV Studios. Scenes featuring the cavern hideout of the aliens were shot in Bronson Canyon in Los Angeles.

​The effect for the aliens in the film was done by Harry Thomas. He was told to make large eyes for them, albeit on a cheap budget, since glass eyes would have cost too much. Needing an idea, he found it while looking in his refrigerator: plastic egg trays, of which he used the top portion by cutting it with a heated screwdriver. He then cut little holes with the screwdriver. Owing to a lack of further time meant that he did not do further work that he would have liked to do, such as sealing the sides with cotton.