Ed Wood is rightly regarded as the holy godfather of bad cinema and Plan 9 from Outer Space is his enduring legacy to generations of crap addicts. While some fans maintain that "Glen Or Glenda" is Ed Wood's crowning achievement, I find Plan 9 from Outer Space to be more spectacularly incompetent and a more enjoyable viewing experience. This film transcends the "so bad, it's good" genre like few films before or after it. Plan 9 from Outer Space is so bad, it's utterly brilliant.
Plan 9 from Outer Space, like most of Ed Wood's magical output, is either pilloried or praised for its technical incompetence. The film is indeed a cinematic car crash when it comes to matters such as attention to detail, continuity and special effects. However, the exuberance, joy and unrelenting sense of fun that permeate Ed Wood's film-making is often overlooked and undervalued. This man was clearly too much of a visionary to be fussed about anything as trivial as a character holding a gun upside down or an actor reading directly from the script. Plan 9 from Outer Space is a lot of things but boring isn't one of them.
The plot is pure sci-fi fluff. Shortly after flying saucers begin appearing in the sky, bodies start to disappear from the local cemetery. It seems that the aliens are re-animating corpses to use as tools against the human race when they invade Earth - not out of spite, mind you, but due to their overwhelming concern that humans could blow up the sun. This is unfortunate for Jeff and Paula, who happen to live next door to the zombie infested graveyard. Ludicrous as it is, this plot is no more outlandish than any number of B-grade movies. What makes Plan 9 from Outer Space stand out from the crowd is the execution - take a bow, Mr Wood!
It would be exhausting to sift through the plethora of goofs, gaffs and mind-boggling mistakes that litter this film. However, some are so outstanding that they demand individual recognition. The first blindingly obvious faux pas is the fishing line which clearly suspends the flying saucers. This is only the beginning of an avalanche of blissful incompetence. There is the infamous Bela Lugosi cameo, which was filmed before the script was even written. After Bela's death, Ed Wood had no qualms about using his wife's chiropractor to take over the role - despite the man being a head taller and considerably slimmer than the great Lugosi. In addition to these sublime blunders, there is the detective who mistakenly points a gun at himself, John Breckinridge's shameless script reading - which results in The Ruler not being able to look at the camera or his fellow actors and the blatantly obvious use of a sound stage for a cemetery, not to mention the cardboard set that doubles as an aeroplane cockpit. This is only scratching the surface.
The most amazing thing about Plan 9 from Outer Space is not Ed Wood's ambivalence to detail but the fact that this ambivalence never detracts from the film's overall enjoyment. Plan 9 from Outer Space works spectacularly well as science fiction entertainment. The mix of action, unintentional comedy, spectacular ineptitude and camp special effects is intoxicating. The film is well paced and, in its own unique way, strangely logical. There is also the joy of watching Bela Lugosi's final film role (well, until the chiropractor takes over!) and a rare glimpse of the magnificent Vampira at the height of her Gothic loveliness. Plan 9 from Outer Space is an unmitigated pleasure from beginning to end.
This film belongs in IMDb's top 250, and I'm sure if people rated films based on the enjoyment factor as opposed to any pretentious conception of artistic quality, it would be. In any case, I'm sure Ed Wood would be pleased to discover that almost 10,000 viewers have taken the time to vote for Plan 9 from Outer Space, which greatly exceeds the impact of many 1950s "classics", ranging from Bergman's "Wild Straeberries" to Truffaut's "The 400 Blows".
Plan 9 from Outer Space, like most of Ed Wood's magical output, is either pilloried or praised for its technical incompetence. The film is indeed a cinematic car crash when it comes to matters such as attention to detail, continuity and special effects. However, the exuberance, joy and unrelenting sense of fun that permeate Ed Wood's film-making is often overlooked and undervalued. This man was clearly too much of a visionary to be fussed about anything as trivial as a character holding a gun upside down or an actor reading directly from the script. Plan 9 from Outer Space is a lot of things but boring isn't one of them.
The plot is pure sci-fi fluff. Shortly after flying saucers begin appearing in the sky, bodies start to disappear from the local cemetery. It seems that the aliens are re-animating corpses to use as tools against the human race when they invade Earth - not out of spite, mind you, but due to their overwhelming concern that humans could blow up the sun. This is unfortunate for Jeff and Paula, who happen to live next door to the zombie infested graveyard. Ludicrous as it is, this plot is no more outlandish than any number of B-grade movies. What makes Plan 9 from Outer Space stand out from the crowd is the execution - take a bow, Mr Wood!
It would be exhausting to sift through the plethora of goofs, gaffs and mind-boggling mistakes that litter this film. However, some are so outstanding that they demand individual recognition. The first blindingly obvious faux pas is the fishing line which clearly suspends the flying saucers. This is only the beginning of an avalanche of blissful incompetence. There is the infamous Bela Lugosi cameo, which was filmed before the script was even written. After Bela's death, Ed Wood had no qualms about using his wife's chiropractor to take over the role - despite the man being a head taller and considerably slimmer than the great Lugosi. In addition to these sublime blunders, there is the detective who mistakenly points a gun at himself, John Breckinridge's shameless script reading - which results in The Ruler not being able to look at the camera or his fellow actors and the blatantly obvious use of a sound stage for a cemetery, not to mention the cardboard set that doubles as an aeroplane cockpit. This is only scratching the surface.
The most amazing thing about Plan 9 from Outer Space is not Ed Wood's ambivalence to detail but the fact that this ambivalence never detracts from the film's overall enjoyment. Plan 9 from Outer Space works spectacularly well as science fiction entertainment. The mix of action, unintentional comedy, spectacular ineptitude and camp special effects is intoxicating. The film is well paced and, in its own unique way, strangely logical. There is also the joy of watching Bela Lugosi's final film role (well, until the chiropractor takes over!) and a rare glimpse of the magnificent Vampira at the height of her Gothic loveliness. Plan 9 from Outer Space is an unmitigated pleasure from beginning to end.
This film belongs in IMDb's top 250, and I'm sure if people rated films based on the enjoyment factor as opposed to any pretentious conception of artistic quality, it would be. In any case, I'm sure Ed Wood would be pleased to discover that almost 10,000 viewers have taken the time to vote for Plan 9 from Outer Space, which greatly exceeds the impact of many 1950s "classics", ranging from Bergman's "Wild Straeberries" to Truffaut's "The 400 Blows".