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:

Unspeakable Horrors From Outer Space Paralyze The Living And Resurrect The Dead!

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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

Due to its mixed use of stock footage, there is no technically correct aspect ratio in which this film can be shown. While the material shot for this film is framed for matted widescreen - and presenting the film at around 1.75:1 removes many of its visible errors - this in turn over-crops the stock footage, which was produced years earlier in 1.33:1.

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Goofs

In a couple of scenes, a police car is seen racing down the street with lights and siren. But the car that arrives on set has no lights or police markings on it.

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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

In the colorized Legend Films DVD release, during one shot of the scene where the Ghoul Man terrorizes the woman in her home, the images inside the picture frames on the bedroom wall have been digitally replaced with pictures of other people. This anomaly does not occur in any other print of Plan 9 and is unique to the Legend Films release.

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Connections

Referenced in Fanalysis (2002)

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Soundtracks

Manhunt
(uncredited)
Music by Van Phillips

User Reviews

Yes, It's Terrible, But Not As Bad As I Had Hoped!

Well, at least I finally this "famous" movie. It took me a long time but so many people have said "it was so bad that it was good" I finally gave it a shot. Previously, I settled for enjoying the Tim Burton "Ed Wood" film, which is very good and tells the story of the making of this movie.

Well, I agree "Plan 9" is bad and, yes, perhaps, "the worst movie of all time" as many label it, but I'm sure there are worse ones out there. Really! I've seen worse (usually the "B" sci-fi movies of the '50s, too!)

I loved the first third of this film. I laughed many times at the hokey flying saucers, the walking "dead" and the corny dialog. I thought, "Wow, this was a bad (meaning good) as advertised," but then I found the film starting to lag at the 35-40-minute mark and recovered a little bit in the end, but not enough to make me want to watch this again. It got too talking and too preachy. Holy cow, this movie is nothing but preaching for everyone to take "flying saucers" seriously. Then we got more preaching at the end about the usual how- violent-mankind-is" blah, blah, blah. The writers here obviously took themselves too seriously. They should have just kept it as sci-fi/horror flick without all the heavy-handed preaching.

Highlights included Tor Johnson's face, the many lines of ridiculous dialog, Vampira's zombie walk with her outstretched hand, and Criswell's incredible speeches and the beginning and end of the movie! All of the above made me laugh almost every time!