It’s so much of a cliché to call PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE the worst movie of all-time that it’s almost a cliché to say that it really isn’t. Despite all of it’s legendary flaws, it doesn’t fail to entertain. As sci-fi film historian Bill Warren points out in the documentary that accompanies this special edition, PLAN 9 is never boring.

The story of Edward D. Wood, Jr. is well known today, immortalized by Tim Burton’s 1994 biopic starring Johnny Depp and the Medved Brothers’ condescending write-up in the infamous Golden Turkey Awards. For the sake of the record, here’s a brief recap: Ed was born on October 10, 1924 in Poughkeepsie, NY and grew up in love with the movies. His favorite Saturday afternoon fare were westerns, serials, and anything starring his hero Bela Lugosi. After serving his country in World War II, he went to Hollywood and perused a career in the movies. He didn’t find much success but survived on persistence alone. His "big break" came when he was hired by exploitation producer George Weiss (RACKET GIRLS, GIRL GANG, DANCE HALL RACKET) to direct a film about the Christine Jorgensen sex change that was making headlines worldwide. The film Wood delivered was something completely different though- a bizarre, autobiographical plea for understanding and acceptance of transvestites called GLEN OR GLENDA (also known in various releases as I CHANGED MY SEX and I LED 2 LIVES). Ed not only wrote and directed, but also starred in the title role. Indeed, Wood was a cross-dresser, with a particular fetish for angora, and he poured his heart out into what must stand as a twisted pinnacle of auteurist filmmaking. The addition of an aging, ailing Bela Lugosi, as an inexplicable, omnipotent overlord pulling the strings of mankind only made the effect more surreal and unforgettable. With GLEN OR GLENDA in the can, Wood went on to direct the neo-noir JAIL BAIT, then reteamed with Bela to make BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, a loving, if not completely competent, tribute to the Monogram cheapies Lugosi cranked out in the 1940’s. By now, Ed had assembled an ensemble of Hollywood outsiders including ex-wrestler Tor Johnson, bit-actor Paul Marco and cinematographer William C. Thompson, who was blind in one eye. With his entourage in tow, Wood began work on what he saw as his magnum opus, an atomic-age invasion film called GRAVE ROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE.

GRAVE ROBBERS… was conceived soon after the death of Lugosi in the summer of 1956. Wood had shot a reel of film of Bela wearing his famous DRACULA cape, walking out of Tor Johnson’s house and wandering fiendishly around a local cemetery. He quickly wrote a screenplay around that existing footage, assembled financing, and began shooting under the new title, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. The finished product was an unmitigated failure at the time, but it would end up being one for the ages.

In addition to the late Bela, who was represented in other scenes by Wood’s chiropractor, Tom Mason (who pulled it off by holding his cape over his face whenever he appeared), PLAN 9 features many of Wood’s regulars, including Johnson as police Inspector Daniel Clay, Marco as Kelton the Cop, Conrad Brooks as a patrolman, Duke Moore as Lt. John Harper and Lyle Talbot as Gen. Roberts. Veteran cowboy star Tom Keene is Col. Tom Edwards, and Gregory Walcott and Mona McKinnon play the young couple who’s home is the site of a memorable attack from the caped chiropractor. The invading aliens are played by Dudley Manlove (as Eros), Joanna Lee (Tanna), and John "Bunny" Breckinridge as The Ruler. Other key parts are memorably played by Maila Nurmi (better known as Vampira) as Lugosi’s resurrected wife and the Amazing Criswell as the narrator.

The movie begins with Criswell rising from his coffin and delivering his now famous introduction:

Apparently, no one told Criswell about the title change, but no matter, the credits flash across the screen and our story begins with the unnamed old man played by Lugosi attending his wife’s funeral. After the ceremony, as the gravediggers prepare her final resting place, a flash from a passing flying saucer zaps her back to life and she kills the gravediggers. Meanwhile, Lugosi is killed (offscreen, apparently by a car) and the police arrive to investigate the dead bodies of the cemetery workers. Lugosi (aka, "The Ghoul Man") rises from his tomb with cape over face. He and his resurrected wife, played by Vampira, kill Inspector Clay. Next we see flying saucers over Hollywood, passing the headquarters of all three television networks. Saucers also attack Washington, and the Pentagon sends troops to try and fight them. We learn of the aliens’ plan, "plan 9," to resurrect the dead to attack the living. Soon, back at the Trent home, the Ghoul Man attacks Jeff’s wife Paula, and she flees into the cemetery where she runs into the Ghoul Woman (Vampira) and the newly resurrected Inspector Clay. She escapes. The Pentagon sends Col. Edwards to interview Jeff and Paula. While they discuss Paula’s experience with the UFOs and the three zombies, the Ghoul Man appears on their porch and attacks, but is killed by a flashing light. Along with Lt. Harper, they all go to the cemetery to investigate, and Paula waits in the car. The zombified Inspector Clay abducts her and takes her to the spaceship. The men find the craft and are allowed in. Eros lectures them about the stupidity of humans and their dangerous experiments in world destruction. Apparently the atom bomb is only the beginning, and the aliens have come to Earth to stop them from discovering an ultimate weapon that could destroy the universe. Two clumsy cops have a surprisingly easy time retrieving Paula from her hulking captor and the space ship bursts into flames during a struggle between Jeff and Eros. Criswell returns once more and issues another pronouncement:

Now you don’t come across a plot like that every day. And this synopsis fails to shed light on the many wonderfully inept and inspired moments alike that make PLAN 9 such a hallowed viewing experience to so many. Unlike almost every other comparable bad movie of the era (and there are many) , PLAN 9 still resonates today. Since it’s "rediscovery" on 60’s and 70’s late-night TV, it has grown steadily in popularity and has more fans now than ever before. This is a trend not likely to abate soon. Why PLAN 9 and not CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON? The answer lies in the appeal of Ed Wood’s unique and unmistakable personal vision. No matter what the level of his skills, certain earnestness comes across in every frame of PLAN 9 that appeals to our best natures. You can tell he was trying the best he could and his imagination was marvelously untamed. Sure the sets were inferior to most high school productions, the acting was worse, and the script varied from unbelievable to incoherent, but there are some genuinely effective scenes, particularly those featuring Tor and Vampira as wandering zombies. The shot of Tor rising out of his grave surely gave many children who unexpectedly stumbled across PLAN 9 on Chiller Theater nightmares for years.

Image provides a theatrical trailer (Full Frame,Mono,1:41). Not surprisingly, it’s in much worse shape than the feature print but it’s better than many other 40/50-year old trailers I’ve seen. The real treasure here though is the documentary feature FLYING SAUCERS OVER HOLLYWOOD- THE PLAN 9 COMPANION, which at two hours is significantly longer than the film itself. It obsessively details the making of PLAN 9, visiting locations, showing memorabilia, sharing trivia, and including interviews with Walcott, Carl Anthony (who played Kelton’s partner), Marco, Vampira, and Brooks as well as Forrest J. Ackerman, the previously credited Bill Warren, biographer Rudolph Grey, Harry Medved, and directors Sam Raimi and Joe Dante. The documentary host is a hilariously unkempt guy in a cheap suit, and the production values are appropriately primitive.

- Ted Cogswell

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