THE OUTER LIMITS / The Architects Of Fear - 1963

It's Fake Alien Invasion Friday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. This excellent episode was directed by the great, Byron Haskins, who also directed these classic flicks... TREASURE ISLAND (1950), THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, CONQUEST OF SPACE, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, CAPTAIN SIDBAD, ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS and THE POWER. He also has 51 special effects credits starting in 1925!

Eegah!! sent over a soundclip with the Master Control Voice and more for your earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the scarecrow from space, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's an earfull of... The Architects Of Fear!

The story goes like this.. A group of scientists decide that they need to protect the world from itself by creating an invasion from space, to bring the world together to fight the enemy in a common cause. The name, Allen Leighton, is pulled out of the pot, he will be the guinea pig to be scientifically altered into the invader from space.

Here's the cage containing a real captured alien, the model they're using to change Allen into a more shocking, man-sized version.

The saddest part of the story is the fact that Allen's wife is pregnant and knows nothing about the big plan, and, Allen will have to die as a person. They have a little secret gesture to express their undying love for each other, Allen says goodbye to her.

Robert Culp plays Allen, Robert and Bill Cosby were my heroes when they starred in the very cool series, I SPY. Robert also stars in two other Outer Limits episodes, "Demon with a Glass Hand" and "Corpus Earthling." In 2010 he collapsed from an apparent heart attack (he was 79) while walking near Runyon Canyon Park in the Hollywood Hills. He was found by a hiker and transported to a nearby hospital where he died from the head injuries he sustained in the fall.

During the transformation, Allen's body and mind are having a negative reaction. Here, he beats the crap out of the doctors and then threatens them with a lethal dose of radiation! The second still shows the doctors huddling behind a table, trying to come up with a plan to stop the flipped out MALIEN. I just made that up, but, probably's been done before.

The doctors put the final touches on their creation before he's secretly shot into space.

Then, it's reported to the world that an unidentified alien spaceship is making its way toward the Earth. I love showing those old TV sets!

The ship is off course and lands in the mountains near the lab. Three hunters watch it come down.

After Allen disintegrates their station wagon with his ray gun, one hunter shoots him!

Allen hobbles his way back to the lab, his wife is there because she got a mental signal and thinks he's still alive.

Allen falls from his injuries, he's dying, so, gives his wife their secret gesture! Now, she knows the truth and the doctors can't lie about what they've done any more...

She holds Allen as he slips away... Here's a weird true story, in 1993 I worked with some very savvy people, hey, Buzz Aldrin worked there. Anyway, one guy from Texas told me that in 2000, George Bush would be president and soon after that, something BIG was going to happen. He said that one of the plans the administration would consider was a fake space invasion, you know, to scare everyone in order to control them!! I am not making this up.