Plan 9 From Outer Space

It's good to see Asheville getting a dose of the peculiar delights of Ed Wood-style cinema. And those delights don't come any more peculiar than Plan 9 from Outer Space. It may be the most enjoyable bad film of all time. Wood had no money, no credentials and, worst of all, no talent, but he didn't let such minor considerations stop him from making movies. Viewed as objectively as possible, Bride of the Monster is easily his best (mostly due to the performance of Bela Lugosi as Dr. Eric Vornoff), but Plan 9 seems to be the general favorite. Armed with maybe five minutes of unrelated footage of Lugosi (Wood's chiropractor — or chiropodist — would stand in where necessary), Wood sold a Baptist minister and his associates on making Plan 9, which is a monument to lovable ineptitude. Not only does the Lugosi double not match, but we get an airplane cockpit separated from the rest of the plane with a shower curtain, laughably bad model kits on strings masquerading as flying saucers, amateurish acting, shaky sets, a plot that makes no sense and some of the worst dialogue ever committed to film. It's really rather glorious, in its own way. Viewers might consider following this one up with Bride of the Monster or Burton's Ed Wood, but don't miss this legendary non classic. This excerpt was taken from a review published by Ken Hanke on May 25, 2005 The Thursday Horror Picture Show has been moved from 7:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.