Teenagers From Outer Space
Indie filmmaker Tom Graeff, inspired to make his own movie after completing a grip job on Roger Corman’s Not of This Earth, convinced monster maker Paul Blaisdell to design the dime store ray gun mirror-reflective gags and the beat-up spray-painted flying saucer shell with the visible crack in it for his magnum opus, which has belatedly attained cult status. Graeff is onscreen in a small role as a reporter. A five minute cutdown of this has been a staple of The Movie Orgy since forever. An in-depth post-mortem on Graeff and his movie can be found here: The Out-Loud Life And Silent Death Of ‘Teenagers From Outer Space’ Creator Tom Graeff – Happy Nice Time People.
About Joe Dante
Joe Dante is a lifelong film buff who turned his obsession into a career. He got his start cutting trailers for Roger Corman and later directed the hit movie Gremlins, as well as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Innerspace and Small Soldiers for producer Steven Spielberg. His feature films include The Howling, Piranha, Matinee, The ‘burbs , Looney Tunes Back in Action, The Hole (first winner of the 3D Persol Award at the Venice Film Festival) and the zom-com Burying the Ex. His TV directing work includes: Police Squad, Amazing Stories, the HBO film The Second Civil War, the Masters of Horror titles Homecoming and The Screwfly Solution, and episodes of Eerie, Indiana, CSI: NY, Hawaii 5-0, Witches of East End, Legends of Tomorrow and Salem. His most recent big screen credit is an episode of the anthology film Nightmare Cinema. He’s currently consulting producer on the Amblin Television/Warner Bros. Animation hit, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai. Joe is also the frequent co-host of Trailers From Hell’s official podcast, The Movies That Made Me, available everywhere podcasts are streamed and downloaded!