Richard W. Haines is an American independent filmmaker and film historian. He graduated from New York University's film school in 1979. Haines directed cult films such as Splatter University (1984) and Alien Space Avenger (1989). He also worked as an editor on The Toxic Avenger (1984) and Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986). As a film historian, Haines authored Technicolor Movies (1993) and The Moviegoing Experience, 1968-2001 (2003), exploring the evolution of film technology and audience experiences.
Alien Space Avenger
In 1939 a spaceship carrying four alien escaped prisoners crash-lands on Earth and the aliens take over the bodies of four locals. Fifty years later the aliens find out that an artist has written a comic book called "Space Avenger," which they believe is about them. They go to New York to try to kill the artist.