Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
A Review of Edward D. Wood Jr's Sci-Fi Epic
The film opens with the narrator, lit up from behind his chair uttering the notorious words, " Can your heart stand the shocking facts about grave robbers from outer space?"
Plan 9: The Plot
The film centres on the hostilities between aliens and humans. The aliens in the film have concentrated their attack on Earth and the 'stupid' people that populate it. The important Plan 9 aims to stop humans creating a bomb that will destroy the sun and consequently everything that relies on the sunlight for its existence. The alien people resurrect the human dead, in order to put a stop to the stupidity of humanity as well as to establish their presence on Earth.
Worst Film OF All Time?
Plan 9 is indeed shockingly bad. The script, the acting and the low production values all undermine the film. Perhaps the most noticeable aspects are the bad production and laughable special effects that populate this movie. The alien spaceships are reminiscent of kitchen pan lids and the string that dangles them in the 'sky' is visable. Wood tries so hard to build and establish fear by using sound effects and atmospheric lighting but the ludicrous appearence of the 'flying saucers' (an apt description), undermines all his efforts. The graveyard scenes are equally memorable. The tombstones are too small and fake looking to be taken seriously and one cannot help but laugh out loud whenever the characters are walking through the graveyard; their height overshadows the pathetic looking cardboard tombstones.
Bela Lugosi's Cameo in Plan 9
The acting is wooden to put it politely, and Bela Lugosi's character is sadly ironic. Lugosi, a close friend of the director, has a cameo part in this film as a ghoul. He is dressed in the role that first made him famous - a black suit and black cape echoing his much loved outing as Dracula. Tragically Lugosi died during the production of the film in 1956 and his replacement, Tom Mason, is a bizarre choice to say the least. Mason's ghoul man is most notably taller than Lugosi and hides the bottom of his face with his cape. Mason plays the part of a ghoul like a bad imitation of Lugosi's Dracula. Mason overplays the cape and comes across as a sad stalker rather than the Living Dead.
Despite everything that is wrong with this film, and there are many, it is difficult to say that this film is indeed the worst of all time. Despite Wood's obvious lack of talent as a director and writer, this film is surprisingly consistent in its narrative and editing. Each shot follows on from the next and it is clear that Wood has passion in his subject matter, no matter how misplaced that is. It is enjoyable to watch precisely because of all the inconsistencies the bad acting, and the incomprehensible plot.
Plan 9 from Outer Space
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