1950s Sci-Fi Hysteria | Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)

The Los Angeles Times review stated, Tom Graeff, "when he stops spreading himself so incredibly thin, I think his work will bear watching". The film failed to perform at the box office, placing further stress on an already-burdened Graeff, and in the fall of 1959, he suffered a breakdown, proclaiming himself as the second coming of Christ. After a number of public appearances, followed by a subsequent arrest for disrupting a church service, Graeff disappeared from Hollywood until 1964. He committed suicide in 1970. The film went on to become a cult classic among sci-fi fans and was later shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (as well as "riffed"), Elvira's Movie Macabre, and Off Beat Cinema. It was also included as an extra in the video game Destroy All Humans!; it becomes unlocked and ready to play in full once the player beats the game. Graeff also pre-recorded some of the film's dialogue for several scenes and had the actors lip-synchronize their dialogue with their scene actions, using a novel synchronization system invented by director Tom Graeff, dubbed Cinemagraph. The film score used stock music, which had been composed by William Loose and Fred Steiner. The same stock music has been recycled in countless B-movies, like Red Zone Cuba, The Killer Shrews and most notably Night of the Living Dead.