Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)

May 2, 2024 8:14 PM

In California, an old man grieves the loss of his wife and on the next day he also dies. However, the space soldier Eros and her mate Tanna use an electric device to resurrect them both and the strong Inspector Clay that was murdered by the couple. Their intention is not to conquest Earth but to stop mankind from developing the powerful bomb “Solobonite” that would threaten the universe. When the population of Hollywood and Washington DC sees flying saucers on the sky, a colonel, a police lieutenant, a commercial pilot, his wife and a policeman try to stop the aliens.
posted by bunderful (8 comments total)

In the film Ed Wood, I was utterly astounded at how well Martin Landau captured the spirit of Bela Lugosi during the production of Plan 9. There were moments when I wondered if they'd spliced in some footage of Lugosi himself, so convincing was Landau's portrayal. After watching Plan 9, seek out Ed Wood; it's worth your time.
posted by SPrintF at 8:35 PM on May 2 [7 favorites]

"One thing's sure. Inspector Clay is dead, murdered, and somebody's responsible."
posted by plastic_animals at 8:42 PM on May 2 [8 favorites]

The movie was funded by a Baptist Church, and in order to get it made, several cast and crew members had to be baptized before the funds were given to the production. This was because the film’s original title, Grave Robbers from Outer Space, was deemed sacrilegious and offended the organization’s religious and conservative sensibilities. But as was the case with Wood, he was willing to do anything to get his film made.

Film School Rejects
posted by bunderful at 9:16 PM on May 2 [5 favorites]

The senior cop just waving his loaded gun around, scratching his head with it etc always gets me. It really brings home the uh "professionalism" and committment to realism that clearly governed this production.
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:26 PM on May 2 [2 favorites]

After watching Plan 9, seek out Ed Wood; it's worth your time.

A long time ago the best boss I ever had handed me 2 DVDs and told me to watch them back to back.

"Which one should I watch first?"

He started to answer, stopped himself, and shrugged.

"What were you going to say?"

He smiled and shook his head.
posted by kingless at 2:41 AM on May 3 [3 favorites]

Plan 9 from Outer Space exists because an eccentric filmmaker never gave up on his dream, even though he was never going to gain acceptance. Jim Morton wrote it best in Incredibly Strange Films: “Edward D. Wood Jr. was a man born to film. Lesser men, if forced to make movies under the conditions Wood faced, would have thrown up their hands in defeat.”

Quoted from the article I linked above. As is the following:

The real worst movies ever made are soulless, joyless, and have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. While there’s an argument to be made for all of Wood’s movies being technically incompetent, Plan 9 from Outer Space is too charming to be considered a failure.

This notorious 1957 sci-fi feature is a product of a filmmaker who had a real vision and a compulsive need to create. Wood was an outsider artist in the truest sense. He was shunned by Hollywood, his movies were always lambasted, and he struggled to make a living in the business. After helming B-movies for a few years, he directed pornographic films until his alcohol-related death in 1978. He didn’t have the most glamorous career, but he was a fighter.

This guy is downright inspirational.

And I very much want a tee shirt with a flying saucer aflame, careening through the sky, with the words “Stupid!! Stupid! Stupid!” below.
posted by bunderful at 8:49 PM on May 3 [7 favorites]

I love Plan 9. Louisville used to have a great single-screen movie theater -- the Vogue -- that would show various cult movies like this one on the weekends. It isn't well made, but it never fails to be entertaining. And Wood's sincerity is obvious.

(Ed Wood is one of the few Johnny Depp films I can still watch. It's brilliant.)
posted by Gelatin at 10:17 AM on May 8 [1 favorite]

Gelatin, I’ve been holding off on Ed Wood partly because it’s not on free streaming right now but also because Depp. Maybe I’ll give it a shot.
posted by bunderful at 5:46 AM on May 9