Plan 9 from Outer Space

"This is the most fantastic story I've ever heard."

"And every word of it's true, too."

"That's the fantastic part of it."

After eight failed attempts to contact the leaders of Earth, a group of aliens enact plan 9: resurrecting the dead.  The aliens, led by Eros (Manlove), make their home base in a cemetery in San Fernando, CA.  Their first subject is a recently deceased woman (Vampira), who attacks and kills her grave diggers and Inspector Clay (Johnson) who is sent to investigate the murders.  Eros reanimates Clay and the woman's husband (Lugosi).

Their actions do not go unnoticed.  Pilot Jeff Trent (Walcott) saw the flying saucer during a routine flight.  The Trent home sits on the edge of the graveyard and his wife, Paula (McKinnon) was attacked by the reanimated corpses.  The military are also involved, under the leadership of Colonel Edwards (Keene) to stop the aliens by any means.


This film is widely considered the worst film ever made, but it has since achieved a cult status as a film that is "so bad that it's good".  There is no mistaking that this is a poorly made / acted film.  The scenery is flimsy and looks cheap.  In at least one scene it goes from day to night to day in a matter of minutes... It is careless film making, minimal to no attention to detail.  This is clearest during a scene in the graveyard when one of the officers continually points his gun at himself... which was a test to see if the director was paying attention, the fact that it appears in the film proves that he never noticed.  This was the final film for horror legend Bela Lugosi.  Lugosi appeared in many Ed Wood films but died during filming.  Wood wrote a screenplay that would allow them to use the scenes Lugosi had already filmed, while allowing another person to play the character for the rest of the film.  The result: Lugosi appears in the film, but there are several clear transitions to Wood's chiropractor (Tom Mason) filling the role.

I first encountered Plan 9 from Outer Space when I saw Tim Burton's Ed Wood.  The film is the story of how director Ed Wood made his best known film: Plan 9 from Outer Space.  You can't help but root for Wood (played by Johnny Depp), despite everything people tell him.  I enjoyed Ed Wood enough to add Plan 9 from Outer Space to my Netflix queue, although it took several years for me to actually let it get to the top of the list.

I didn't hate the film... it was enjoyable.  Yes, it is as bad as you expect, but it is unintentionally hilarious and worth checking out.

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) 79 minutes
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Starring: Gregory Walcott as Jeff Trent
Mona McKinnon as Paula Trent
Duke Moore as Lieutenant Harper
Tom Keene as Colonel Edwards
Carl Anthony as Patrolman Larry
Paul Marco as Patrolman Kelton
Tor Johnson as Inspector Clay
Dudley Manlove as Eros
Joanna Lee as Tanna
John Breckinridge as Ruler
Lyle Talbot as General
Vampira as Vampire Girl
Bela Lugosi as Old Man / Ghoul Man
Criswell as Narrator