Review of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) by Marco F — 20 Feb 2014

Edward D. Wood, Jr. was a man who was quite simply born to film- it is all he ever thought about, all he ever wanted to do. He was so enthuastic about moviemaking and so in love with the very process of it that he undeniably wanted to be the greatest filmmaker who ever lived. Quite honestly, his love for film was so strong and so deep, it blinded him and made him unable to see the reality that he was simply no good at it at all. And of course, he didn't realize that he was so bad at filmmaking, that he would be known in later years as the worst movie director of all time.

He almost always only ever shot one take of each shot- he just very much enjoyed composing and directing shots, and awaiting for the next new shot. There wasn't, hadn't been, and probably never will be, a man like Ed Wood.

He made movies like GLEN OR GLENDA?, a "study" of transsexualism, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, a Frankenstein-type "horror" movie, and another "horror" film, NIGHT OF THE GHOULS. All of those films were epically bad- but Wood's magnum-opus PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is probably the worst of the lot.

This film, released in 1959, is as staggeringly incompetent as everyone who has ever seen it says it is- but quite honestly, upon learning about the conditions of which Wood was working under while making the movie- I have nothing but respect for him, and every filmmaker should. He hardly had any money to make the film and went through great personal strife and sacrifices to get this and his other movies made. All the things that went wrong- Bela Lugosi dying during pre-production, the shoe-string budget of $60,000 (About $490,000 today), Wood's battles with his fianciers and actors he cast in this movie on the condition that they give money to Wood to make the film, and others. Wood would do anything to make sure he could make and complete his films. This film is in love with filmmaking- it tries to be great, but it fails on every concievable level.

I must admit- I don't think Wood was particularly clever, however. He liked to make sci-fi and/or horror films- PLAN 9 a combination of both. Sci-fi films like this, along with real-life period piece films are probably the most expensive, complicated and ambitious kinds of movies to make because every detail of a production like that is so very important- much more important and difficult to make look real. That's why most studios and investors are comparitively unwilling to finance sci-fi films- the margin of error when making another addition to this great genre of movies is much thinner, and much less forgiving. And of course, this movie gets everything wrong. You can make a low-budget sci-fi film, but not like this, especially with the elements involved here.

Everything about this film is bad- the amazingly strange and nonsensical dialogue, the one-dimensional characters, even the special effects and production design are so shoddy and so fake that it really defies belief as to how Wood could actually believe he was making a movie of quality. I don't think he knew very much if anything about moviemaking- he just loved the idea of telling a story with filmmaking equipment. His determination and his willingness (no matter how wrapped up he was with the very art of moviemaking, which this movie is rife with this kind of enthusiasm) to get this and his other films made has to be respected, I think.

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is, with MANOS: HANDS OF FATE, almost certainly the worst movie ever made in history. It defines the term "So bad, it's good": the movie's badness is so great, it's really beyond comprehension- to the point where it adds charm to the movie itself. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing that is even noteworthy about it- but quite honestly, it has to be seen to be believed. It is totally inept on every possible level of filmmaking- and that's why it should be seen. Few films are this bad, and even fewer directors have ever had this much passion for moviemaking and this much willingness to actually make a movie and get it done. That's something very few filmmakers actually have the courage or feeling to do.

Some have said that he would have been a competent producer- but I have my doubts on that. Sadly- he had alcohol problems, and he died a penniless drunk in 1978 after directing some softcore porn in the early '70s. Well- at least he wasn't forgotten.