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This article is about the 1959 film. For the video game of the same name, see Plan 9 from Outer Space (video game).
For other uses, see Plan 9 (disambiguation).
Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction/horror film written, produced, and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.. The film stars Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi. The film also claims to posthumously star Bela Lugosi through use of archive footage and a brief scene of the actor shot by Wood just before Lugosi's death in 1956, although Lugosi's character is primarily portrayed by chiropractor Tom Mason. The plot of the film is focused on a race of extraterrestrial beings who 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 zombies to get the planet's attention, causing chaos. Because of its script, acting, special effects, and multiple production errors visible in the final version of the film, Plan 9 from Outer Space is often regarded as a leading candidate for the title of "worst movie ever made". It has also earned Wood a posthumous Golden Turkey Award as the worst director ever.
CastCredited
Uncredited
History and development
Shortly before Bela Lugosi's death in 1956, the actor had been working with filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. on a horror film titled Tomb of the Vampire.[1] When Lugosi died, he had only completed a few minutes of footage, and Wood shelved the project.[1] Eventually, Wood developed the story and screenplay for Grave Robbers from Outer Space, planning to release it as Lugosi's final film. Wood hired his wife's chiropractor, Tom Mason, as a stand-in for Lugosi, even though Mason matched Lugosi neither physically or vocally.[1] Plan 9 from Outer Space was shot in 1958 and finally released in 1959. Mistakes
Plan 9 From Outer Space is widely noted for having a plethora of obvious goofs.[2][3] Due to the low budget, most of the film sequences were shot in one take, without editing, causing most of the mistakes to happen. Most notably in the first scenes, string is clearly visible from the top of the wobbly saucer to the top of the screen. These same flying saucers cast shadows over the "space" backdrop.[2][3] Criswell's opening narration redundantly informs the viewer how "future events such as these will affect you in the future." Immediately afterwards, he states that the story has already "happened on that fateful day."[2][3] "Night" and "day" shots are interspersed constantly within the same scene (for example, the old man's corpse chases Paula Trent through the cemetery, with the scene switching between night and day nine times). Night scenes can be simulated by darkening the prints of day scenes, but Wood's budget was insufficient to cover that expense. One porthole on the alien spaceship shows a cloudy day (shown during a scene set at night), while the others show only blackness.[2][3] Mason's attempts to hide the fact that he is not Lugosi are unsuccessful.[2][3] As an early version of Leonard Maltin's movie guidebook put it, "Lugosi died during production, and it shows." In one scene, as his character is being riddled with bullets, Mason's Dracula cape unintentionally starts to slip off his shoulders and he quickly pulls it back into place.[2][3] 
During a scene in an airplane cockpit, a flash of light from a flying saucer reveals the shadow of the boom mic. Also in this scene, the actress playing the flight attendant bumps into the curtain several times while waiting for her cue, and the two pilots "fly" their plane without touching the indescribable objects placed where control yokes would be. One pilot actually holds up his script and reads from it. [2][3] In the numerous graveyard scenes, as characters brush against tombstones, the stones wobble and, in one case, fall over (e.g., the cross at the right side of the screen in an early scene).[2][3] In the scene where Inspector Daniel Clay's body rises out of the ground, the "grave" and headstone are clearly out of proportion to all the leaves on the ground.[2][3] When Tor Johnson drops the girl in the cemetery, a pillow is clearly visible beneath her.[2][3] During the U.S. Army attack on the UFOs, the rockets used are actually ground-to-ground mortar type rockets that practically cannot even fly at a required altitude to harm aircraft. Also the majority of the weapons used in the scene were never actually used in combat.[2][3] In the same scene, Col. Tom Edwards clearly casts a shadow on the "horizon" behind him. The Colonel is also missing most of his rank identification items, while the Captain beside him doesn't have any at all.[2][3] In scenes set in the Pentagon, there is a map of the United States on the wall. The map is from the Santa Fe Railway. The railroad's logo is visible in some shots, but was covered with black tape in others. Documenting the filmThe movie is the subject of a documentary entitled Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The Plan 9 Companion, which is notable for being 30 minutes longer than the movie itself. The documentary is included on Image Entertainment's DVD edition of Plan 9. The documentary visits many locations related to the film, including the building with Ed Wood's former office at 4477 Hollywood Boulevard and what was left of the small sound stage used for the film's interiors which is down a small alley next to the Harvey Apartments at 5640 Santa Monica Boulevard. Rudolph Grey's book Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood Jr. contains anecdotes regarding the making of this film. Grey notes that participants in the original events sometimes contradict one another, but he relates each person's information for posterity regardless. In 1994, Tim Burton directed a fictionalized biopic, Ed Wood, which climaxes with the making and release of Plan 9. Ed Wood starred Johnny Depp in the title role, Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi, and Bill Murray as Bunny Breckinridge (who played the alien "Ruler" in Plan 9). Ed Wood also featured frequent Wood cohorts Conrad Brooks and Gregory Walcott, both of whom appeared in Plan 9. The gala premiere depicted in the film never took place; Wood's films were always released quietly and on a limited basis. In 2007, a documentary by Kevin Sean Michaels entitled Vampira: The Movie, was produced chronicling Maila Nurmi's work with director Edward D. Wood Jr. and her role as television's first horror host. Legacy
Plan 9 from Outer Space is widely considered the worst film ever made, and is referenced often in popular culture. When the film Battlefield Earth was reviewed by the New York Times, film critic Elvis Mitchell referred to it as being "Plan Nine From Outer Space for a new generation."[4] The Bell Labs successor to the Unix operating system was named Plan 9 from Bell Labs in honor of the film.[5] In the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Oompa-Loompas use the same gesture to salute Willy Wonka as the aliens in Plan 9 from Outer Space use to salute their leader.[6] In 2006, Legend Films released a colorized version of Plan 9 from Outer Space on DVD.[7] Though the colorization process was largely done straight, unlike the campy bright colors used in the studio's release of Reefer Madness, there were a few alterations. Legend had auctioned off the opportunity to insert new material into the film through two auctions on eBay. The first allowed the auction winner to provide a photograph that is digitally inserted into part of the scene between the Ghoul Man and Paula Trent. The second allowed the winner to have his or her name placed on a gravestone during a scene with Tor Johnson. The third alteration is at a point where Eros is punched and briefly turns green from head to toe.[7] Autographed pre-release copies of the DVD were made available in 2005, and the colorized version was also given special theatrical screenings at various theaters throughout the United States, including the Castro Theatre.[8][9] The DVD featured an audio commentary track by comedian Michael J. Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame, in which he heckles, or "riffs" the film in a style similar to an episode of the series, a restored black and white version of Plan 9, a home video of Edward D. Wood in drag performing a striptease (Wood, in real life, was a cross-dresser) and a comedic feature narrated by Nelson detailing the "lost" Plans 1-8. The autographed edition also came with a limited edition air freshener.[9] Nelson's commentary is also available through his company RiffTrax, where it can be downloaded as either an MP3 audio file or a DivX video file with the commentary embedded into the colorized version of the film.[10][11]. The film was never featured in the B-movie mocking comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. It has been reported that the reasons for this were the problem of running the commentary format of the series over the film's narrator as well as the fact that the film was already very well known, and the show's crew preferred more obscure films.[12] However, the film was included in live performances at the SF Sketchfest by The Film Crew, comprised of former Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast members Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. A commentary based on these performances was released for RiffTrax, advertised as a "Three Riffer Edition", due to the fact that Nelson's solo commentary for the film's colorized DVD release had already been sold as an audio file on the website. Many of the jokes from Nelson's solo commentary carried over to the new commentary.[13] Glenn Danzig named his independent record label Plan 9 Records, after the film. This was the label that published the horror punk band The Misfits. Rockabilly/surf band Department of Crooks (also known as Casino Crooks) released an album titled Plan 9 From Las Vegas in the late 90s.[14] Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 recorded a song titled "Plan 9 From Outer Space". It appears on the album Songs from the Recently Deceased.[15] In 1997, David G. Smith wrote and composed the music for Plan 9 from Outer Space: The Musical. It received better reviews than the original film.[16] Eternity Comics released a miniseries in the 1990s entitled Plan 9 from Outer Space: Thirty Years Later! which served as an unofficial sequel to the film.[17] An adventure game of the same name was made in which the player must recover the film from Bela Lugosi's double, who has stolen it.[18] The movie was packaged with the game as a VHS tape. Those that preordered the video game Destroy All Humans!, available for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 video game consoles, received a bonus DVD of Plan 9 from Outer Space when the game was released. The game itself also features several references to the movie. A scene from the movie is also unlockable in the game, along with the complete film Teenagers From Outer Space, but neither has any controls (play, pause, fast forward).[6] WatchSee alsoReferences*Sloan, Will. (April 2005). "Can Your Heart Stand the Shocking Facts About Kelton the Cop A/K/A Paul Marco?" Filmfax, p.88-89
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