Review of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) by Tomas T — 17 Mar 2013

Plan 9 from Outer Space carries the ungrateful honor of being considered THE worse film ever. While I agree that on technical terms the film leaves much room for improvement, but does that alone make Plan 9 the worse film ever made? I do not think so.

Edward D. Wood Jr. was quite an character and a mediocre director at best (Insight entirely based on Tim Burton's 1994 biographical film Ed Wood), but his most famous production Plan 9 from Outer Space is unjustly labeled as the worse film ever. Granted the script, acting, screenplay and technical execution are all subpar, but even with all its shortcomings, one must admire the directors relentless will to pursue his vision and produce films which defy mainstream.

Plan 9 from Outer Space is a movie which simply cannot be taken seriously and thus judging it purely on its technical merits alone seems unfair. I found myself mostly amused by the campiness and clumsy improvisations to which the director had to resort to in order to complete the film. And there were times when I found myself honestly interested with the out of this world story of space invaders who aim to stop humans from creating a doomsday weapon.. With the help of Zombie henchmen!

Plan 9 from Outer Space is technically a bad film, no question about that, but I could name a dozen worse and more annoying films easily. Once the viewer gets past the film's technical shortcomings there is actually an oddly entertaining film experience hidden within the crude outerior shell.