Plan 9 from Outer Space

This article is about the film. For the video game of the same title, see Plan 9 from Outer Space (video game).

Plan 9 from Outer Space
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed byEdward D. Wood Jr.
Written byEdward D. Wood Jr.
Produced byEdward D. Wood Jr.
J. Edward Reynolds[1]
Starring
Narrated byCriswell
CinematographyWilliam C. Thompson
Edited byEdward D. Wood Jr.
Music bysee Music
Production
companies
Reynolds Pictures, Inc.
Distributed byDistributors Corporation of America
Release date
  • March 15, 1957 (1957-03-15) (preview screening)
Running time
80 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60,000

Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and had a preview screening on March 15, 1957, at the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles under the title Grave Robbers from Outer Space.[3] Retitled Plan 9 from Outer Space, it went into general release in July 1958 in Virginia,[4] Texas and several other Southern states,[5][6] before being sold to television in 1961.[7]

The film stars Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson, and "Vampira" (Maila Nurmi) and is narrated by Criswell. It also posthumously bills Bela Lugosi (before Lugosi's death in August 1956, Wood had shot silent footage of Lugosi for another, unfinished film, which was inserted into Plan 9). Other guest stars are Hollywood veterans Lyle Talbot, who said he never refused an acting job, and former cowboy star Tom Keene.

The film's storyline concerns extraterrestrials who seek to stop humanity from creating a doomsday weapon that could destroy the universe.[8] The aliens implement "Plan 9", a scheme to resurrect the Earth's dead. By causing chaos, the aliens hope the crisis will force humanity to listen to them; otherwise, the aliens will destroy mankind with armies of the undead.

Plan 9 from Outer Space played on television in relative obscurity from 1961 until 1980, when authors Harry Medved and Michael Medved dubbed it the "worst film ever made" in their book The Golden Turkey Awards.[9] Wood and his film were posthumously given two Golden Turkey Awards for Worst Director Ever and Worst Film Ever. It has since been called "the epitome of so-bad-it's-good cinema"[10] and gained a large cult following.[11]

Plan 9 from Outer Space, full film; runtime 01:19:03
  1. ^ Craig, Rob (2009). Ed Wood, Mad Genius: A Critical Study of the Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-5423-5. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  2. ^ "Plan 9 from Outer Space (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. January 29, 1960. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  3. ^ Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 203. ISBN 978-0-922915-24-8.
  4. ^ "James Theatre, Starts Today/Liane Jungle Goddess/Plan Nine from Outer Space". Daily Press. July 3, 1958. p. 8.
  5. ^ "Majestic, starts Wednesday/ Golden age of Comedy/Plan 9 from Outer Space". The Abilene Reporter. October 28, 1958. p. 4.
  6. ^ "Friday and Saturday /Vertigo/Plan 9 from Outer Space". Latimer County News-Tribune. November 27, 1958. p. 4.
  7. ^ Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 197. ISBN 978-0-922915-24-8.
  8. ^ The 52 most important American independent movies |AV Club
  9. ^ Thompson, L. (October 15, 2011). "Return to 'Plan 9 From Outer Space'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference dialog was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Palopoli, Steve (May 31, 2006). "Cult Leader: 'Plan 9 from Outer Space'". Metro Silicon Valley. Archived from the original on December 28, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2013.