PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1957)

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1957)

Tagline: Aliens Resurrecting The Dead! Flying Saucers Over Hollywood!

(Sci-Fi, Horror, Laughs) [PG]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure it would have been a PG. This movie was originally called GRAVE ROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE which actually makes less sense. 

Greetings, my friend. 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.

Oddly this movie fell under the radar for most anyone that wasn’t just really into director Edward D. Wood Jr’s (Ed Wood) movies. That was until in 1980 Michael Medved (actually a famous conservative talk show host for a while there as well as a movie critic) dubbed it the “worst film ever made”. After that, the movie just blew up like a lot of really bad films do once they get noticed and bam, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE basically became a phenomenon with special showings at various venues to this day. Apparently, this was also Ed Wood’s favorite movie and oddly was funded by the Baptist Church after several of the cast members got baptized. 

The movie centers around an alien race that decides to deploy “PLAN 9” after the US government rejects earlier communications with them claiming they don’t even exist. PLAN 9 involves bringing the dead to life to do the bidding of the aliens and after a few successes, they have decided to try expanding their efforts. Can Colonel Edwards, a few cops, and Jeff Trent stop the madness before the world is enslaved?

First off this movie is just bonkers and to be honest it’s just not really any good at accomplishing its goal of convincing you the plot makes sense. For some reason the first 3 people the aliens bring back to life suddenly look like the cast of THE MUNSTERS? It’s pretty crazy. Apparently, Maila Nurmi who plays “Vampire Girl” only got $200.00 for the movie and doesn’t have a single speaking line because she didn’t like the script. She was famous for “The Vampira Show” which lasted about a year and had 50 episodes. Gregory Walcott who plays Jeff Trent said it was the worst script he’d ever read but signed on anyway. Walcott had over 110 acting credits including the TV show “Murder She Wrote”, but if I am being honest, the acting in this movie is horrendous across the board.

There are a few scenes where Joanna Lee (who plays Tanna) is actually trying, but in the second half of the movie, it’s almost like she’s playing a different character. She is also in THE BRAIN EATERS, but none of the acting stood out in that movie either. She later disowned the film. We also get a Tor Johnson appearance in this one and he actually gets a few lines as Inspector Clay, before something happens to him. Tor was a Swedish wrestler who did a lot of crazy movies usually as a villain due to his stature but was known for his big heart. This was Bela Lugosi’s last film and he was a friend of Ed Wood’s so his inclusion in the final cut is probably appropriate because the footage was shot before his death for a project that hadn’t been fleshed out yet? 

Loaded with disjointed cinematography it looks like half of this movie was shot on a sound stage and the other half was shot in broad daylight. Everything is spliced together like TOHO was in charge. It’s just really distracting. The effects for the flying saucers are gloriously bad but for me, that was a plus. We even get Styrofoam and cardboard props for the gravestones which can be seen waving around as actors walked into them a few times. 

So is this the worst movie ever filmed? Umm, no, not by a long shot. It’s also not any good in the normal sense of what people look for in a movie, but it’s shockingly hard not to keep watching. I kind of loved how zany and incredibly nuts and unglued this movie is. I mean, it doesn’t really make any sense at all. Too comedic by today’s standards to be considered horror I recommend checking this out at least once. For me, it’s a 5 out of 7, but for most, unless you just really like “so bad it’s good films” it’s probably going to be significantly lower than that.

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