Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1957 sci-fi horror film about aliens that attempt to invade Earth by resurrecting the dead.
The movie was written, produced and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.
The movie features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson (The Beast of Yucca Flats; The Unearthly; The Black Sleep) and Maila “Vampira” Nurmi. The Reynolds Pictures production bills Bela Lugosi posthumously as a star, although silent footage of the actor had been shot by Wood for other, unfinished projects just before Lugosi’s death in 1956.
Plot:
Extraterrestrial beings are seeking to stop humans from creating a doomsday weapon that would destroy the universe. In the course of doing so, the aliens implement “Plan 9”, a scheme to resurrect Earth’s dead as what modern audiences would consider zombies (called “ghouls” in the film itself) to get the planet’s attention, causing chaos.
In San Fernando, California, two gravediggers are filling the grave of the young wife of an unnamed old man. Hearing a strange noise, they decide to leave the cemetery but are attacked and killed by the resurrected corpse of the young woman. Meanwhile, in the skies nearby, a pilot named Jeff Trent and his co-pilot Danny encounter a flying saucer.
Absorbed in his grief over his wife’s death, the old man walks into the path of an oncoming automobile. At his funeral, mourners discover the bodies of the gravediggers. Inspector Daniel Clay and other police officers come to the cemetery to investigate. While searching the graveyard, Clay encounters the female zombie, now joined by the reanimated corpse of the old man, and is killed.
Jeff Trent is watching the cemetery with his wife, Paula, and tells her about his flying saucer encounter, stating that the Army has sworn him to secrecy. He suspects the events at the cemetery are related to his encounter with the UFO. A powerful wind knocks everyone to the ground, and a spaceship lands nearby.
In the weeks that follow, newspaper headlines report other flying saucer sightings. The military, under the command of Col. Thomas Edwards, Chief of Saucer Operations, attacks the alien spaceships, which flee Earth. Edwards reveals that the government has been covering up the flying saucers, and wonders if the aliens are connected to other disasters on Earth…
Our review:
It’s debatable whether or not Plan 9 from Outer Space can actually be called a horror film. For one thing, it’s scary like not at all. If you actually pay attention to the film, it’s obvious that director Ed Wood was actually trying to deliver a heartfelt plea for world peace (as well as finding a use for a minute of footage featuring the late Bela Lugosi). Of course, a lot of others claim that all Wood did was create the worst film ever made.
Now, at the risk of being branded a heretic, Plan 9 from Outer Space is hardly the worst film ever made. First off, lead actor Gregory Walcott actually gives a pretty good performance as Jeff, the confused pilot who is accused of having a “stupid, stupid mind.” And secondly … well, that’s really the only traditional praise that the film can be given.
Still, Plan 9 from Outer Space is way too much fun to be truly bad. Yes, you may sit there and wonder, “How was this movie made?” but the fact of the matter is this: it was made and we’re all better off for it. No, Plan 9 is not your standard “horror” film despite the presence of zombies and grave robbers from outer space. However, in its own silly “Look we made a movie!” sort of way, it’s the perfect film for Halloween.
Lisa Marie Bowman, guest reviewer via Through the Shattered Lens
Buy The Ed Wood Box DVD set from Amazon.com
Cast and characters:
Gregory Walcott … Jeff Trent; Mona McKinnon … Paula Trent; Duke Moore … Lieutenant Harper; Tom Keene … Colonel Edwards; Carl Anthony … Patrolman Larry; Paul Marco … Patrolman Kelton; Tor Johnson … Inspector Clay; Dudley Manlove … Eros; Joanna Lee … Tanna; John Breckinridge … Ruler; Lyle Talbot … General Roberts; David De Mering … Danny; Norma McCarty … Edith; Bill Ash … Captain; Lynn Lemon … Reverend
Technical specs:
1 hour 19 minutes
Audio: Mono (RCA Sound Recording)
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.33: 1
Theatrical release:
The film was shot in November 1956 and had a theatrical preview screening on March 15, 1957 at the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles (the onscreen title was Grave Robbers from Outer Space but was changed because a couple of the investors felt that references to grave robbing could be considered blasphemous). It went into general release on July 22, 1959, in Texas and several other southern states re-titled Plan 9 from Outer Space, before being sold to television in 1961.
Trailer:
Free to watch online on YouTube:
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