Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Evil aliens attack Earth and set their terrible "Plan 9" in action. As the aliens resurrect the dead of the Earth to destroy the living, our lives are in danger.

Director:

Edward D. Wood Jr.

Writer:

Edward D. Wood Jr.

Stars:

Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gregory Walcott	...	Jeff Trent
Mona McKinnon	...	Paula Trent
Duke Moore	...	Lt. Harper
Tom Keene	...	Col. Edwards
Carl Anthony	...	Patrolman Larry
Paul Marco	...	Patrolman Kelton
Tor Johnson	...	Inspector Clay
Dudley Manlove	...	Eros
Joanna Lee	...	Tanna
John Breckinridge	...	Ruler
Lyle Talbot	...	Gen. Roberts
David De Mering	...	Danny
Norma McCarty	...	Edith
Bill Ash	...	Captain
Lynn Lemon	...	Reverend (as Reverend Lynn Lemon)

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

camp | bad acting | stock footage | wobbly sets | horror host | 

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Taglines:

Aliens Resurrecting The Dead! Flying Saucers Over Hollywood!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Grave Robbers from Outer Space

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Reynolds Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1977, Glenn Danzig created his own independent record label to release his band The Misfits' music, originally called Blank Records, later renamed Plan 9 Records. The band's song "Vampira" is about the movie, including the lyric "Graverobbers from outer space," which was the film's original title.

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Goofs

It is said that the Pentagon is in Washington, D.C. It's really in Arlington, Virginia, but is so linked to Washington's political and economic culture and so close physically that Pentagon employees generally think of themselves as Washingtonian rather than Virginian.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Criswell: 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. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony ...

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Alternate Versions

One more 'addition' to the Legend Films 'colorized' release is an added color visual effect where the alien Commanders face turns green in reaction to being hit soon after saying the line: "See? Your stupid minds, Stupid, Stupid!" He goes green as soon as he is hit then it fades to colorized normal skin tone after 30 seconds or so. There is no way he could have turned a different color like this in the B/W version as its luminance is as bright as the colorized skin. It would read as the same level gray.

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Connections

Referenced in Best of the Worst: Supergirl, Captain America (1990), and Roger Corman's Fantastic Four (2014)

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Soundtracks

Hypertension
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Mahl (pseudonym of George S. Chase )

User Reviews

Bumbling Aliens first 8 plans fail, will plan 9 succeed? … I think not

Ed Wood must have been a fascinating man. He had a burning drive and ambition to succeed in the film industry, yet his creative and directorial talents were infantile.

Plan 9 is his most famous film and has become a cult favourite. The film is an example of extreme amateurism which creates an assortment of unintentionally funny scenes. It's truly amazing this film managed to be funded and released to the public (then again, The Swarm was too …).

Within Plan 9's ridiculous and convoluted story are a number of silly subplots due to the fact that Ed had such a variety of interesting an un-related footage which he really, really wanted to use in the one film. One needs to pay close attention to understand everything that's going on in this mess (although, when you do understand everything that's going on, you may wish you'd have remained ignorant!)

Plan 9 has heaps of priceless quirks: hub-cap flying saucers, idiotic dialogue, the last gasp of the great Bella Lugosi, and the luscious Vampira (who apparently would have breached an existing contract if she uttered a word in Plan 9).

One of the most interesting aspects of Plan 9 is the great variation in performance techniques by the actors. Some speak their lines like they know the script is idiotic while some speak their lines like they don't understand them (which is possible because some of the dialogue uttered by the bumbling aliens doesn't make any sense). But my favourite character is the airline captain played by Gregory Walcott.

Greg's a real trooper and attempts to take his role very, very seriously despite the constant lunacy around him. How did he remain so professional? Did he imagine his role in Plan 9 would lead to greater things?

Although Ed Wood has been voted by the US film industry as the worst director in history, he lives on as a kind of cult anti-hero. As a director then, he has achieved a level of lasting success.

6/10 – For fun value.