Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Plan 9 from Outer Space
Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr.
Written by Edward D. Wood Jr.
1959/USA
Reynolds Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Colonel Tom Edwards: This is the most fantastic story I’ve ever heard.

Jeff Trent: And every word of it’s true, too.

Colonel Tom Edwards: That’s the fantastic part of it.[/box]

When the extremely weird meets the utterly inept, you have a classic, my friends.

Cockpit made of cardboard, a shower curtain, and a microphone

Earthlings refuse to admit the existence of flying saucers so aliens are forced to resort to “Plan 9”. Plan 9 involves resurrecting the dead to attract our attention. Ultimately, our visitors aim to prevent our “juvenile minds” from destroying the universe. I think.

The ineptitude of this movie must be seen to be fully appreciated. It cannot be topped for chutzpah. For example, Bela Lugosi supposedly plays one of the zombie creatures. Inconveniently, he had died several years earlier. This did not deter Ed Wood. He simply combined footage taken of Lugosi with film of a much shorter, younger actor holding a cape across his face. Gravestones are obviously made of cardboard and shake when the actors walk by although how hard could it have been to film in an actual cemetary?

That said this was a lot of fun and don’t forget: “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHRq80QNnJM

Classic clips