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Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 10:14 pm    Post subject: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) Reply with quote

__________________

Generally accepted as The Worst Movie Ever Made. No argument.

Transvestite director Edward D. Wood, Jr. is the artist who painted this masterpiece, one of many such cinematic black eyes. "Plan 9 from Outer Space" has earned its worst-ever-made reputation because so much of its badness comes close to resembling satire: the bad acting almost looks like good actors making fun of bad acting, the special effects are so bad they look like statements on bad special effects, etc.

Everybody knows the story about how Bela Lugosi died during production and was replaced by a chiropractor who kept a Dracula cape over his face. Because the film seems almost deliberately bad, "Plan 9 from Outer Space" isn't really Wood's most inept film, nor is it his most offensive. Those honors must go to "Bride of the Monster" and "Glen or Glenda", respectively.

But "Plan 9 from Outer Space" is undoubtedly Wood's most famous — and perhaps this is some consolation to the unfortunate actors who make up the cast: George Wolcott, Mona McKinnon, Joanna Lee, Lyle Talbot, Tor Johnson, Vampira, guest prologue-epilogue spokesman Criswell the physic, and Dudley Manlove (a deservedly obscure actor who plays a sissified alien named Commander Eros!).

_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:26 pm; edited 7 times in total
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 11:59 pm    Post subject: Re: Plan 9 from Outer Space - (1959) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Everybody knows the story about how Bela Lugosi died during production and was replaced by a chiropractor who kept a Dracula cap over his face.

That's a common misconception. Actually, Lugosi died three years before Plan Nine was filmed. Shortly before his death in 1956, Bela appeared in some scenes shot by Ed Wood for a film to be called Tomb of the Vampire. That project was abandoned when Lugosi died, but Wood held on to the footage and used it later in Plan Nine.

Bud Brewster wrote:
But "Plan Nine from Outer Space" is undoubtedly Wood's most famous -- and perhaps this is some consolation to the unfortunate actors who make up the cast: George Wolcott, Mona McKinnon, Joanna Lee, Lyle Talbot, Tor Johnson, Vampira, guest prologue-epilogue spokesman Criswell the psychic, and Dudley Moore (a deservedly obscure actor who plays a sissified alien from the planet Eros!).

I assume you mean Dudley Manlove? (Yes, there was an actor by that name — and he didn't do gay porn!)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 1:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll change the original post to make the correction. Thanks for setting the record straight. Very Happy

I wrote that review about 20 years ago (along with 688 others, just for fun) using a stack of reference books for the source info. One of them apparently tried to cast Dudley Moore in this infamous film, and I didn't catch the typo!

There's a Duke Moore in the cast who plays a police lieutenant, so that must be reason for the mix up.

Thanks, Scotpens! Very Happy

Mr. Moore thanks you as well.



_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Dec 17, 2021 2:28 pm; edited 4 times in total
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Lord, what can you say about this movie that hasn't been said?

This movie is EXQUISTLY bad, from the shower curtain cockpit doors to the Cadilac hubcap flying saucers. The scenes of the police officers use of their guns as headscratchers and the VERY bad dialogue ("This man was murdered------and SOMEONE is responsible!").

This may actually be the BEST bad movie ever made!!!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production. Very Happy
________________________________

~ Contrary to popular belief, the detective who points his gun at himself several times did it deliberately. The actor wanted to see if Edward D. Wood Jr. would notice. He didn't.

Note from me: As nutty was Ed was, he probably thought it added depth to the cop character; like, he had a subconscious desire to kill himself! Shocked

~ The film played for years in relative obscurity on late-night television until 1980, when critic Michael Medved dubbed it the worst film ever made. Almost instantly, a cult classic was created.

Note from me: Mr. Medved wrote The Golden Turkey Awards, a highly enjoyable book about bad movies. Very Happy

~ According to Maila Nurmi (aka Vampira), she would put on her vampire makeup and costume at home and then take a bus to the Quality Studios soundstage where her scenes were filmed.

Note from me: That would cause quite a stir among bus riders in most cities . . . but not in LA. Laughing

~ Maila Nurmi was paid $200 for her appearance in the film. She insisted that the character be mute as she didn't care for the dialogue.

Note from me: "God, the dialog sucks! I wonder if I can convince Ed to make my character a mute." Confused

~ Funded by a Baptist church. Several members of the cast let themselves be baptized.

Note from me: I wonder just what the congregation of that church thought about the fact that their church tithes had been used to fund this less-than-inspirational movie! Shocked

~ J. Edward Reynolds, who headed the group of Baptist ministers financing the film, and associate producer Hugh Thomas Jr., played the gravediggers.

Note from me: Wait . . . what? There was more than one minister who conned his congregations into donating money collect to their church, which was then used to finance this turkey?

~ When Gregory Walcott read the script, he told Edward D. Wood Jr. that it was the worst script he had ever read. He reluctantly signed on.

Note from me: In the movie Ed Wood, Johnny Depp is on the phone with a potential backer who tells Depp that his his last movie was the worst he'd ever seen.

Grinning with unshakable confidence, Depp replies, "Well . . . my NEXT one will be better!" Laughing

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:

This movie is EXQUISTELY bad, from the shower curtain cockpit doors to the Cadillac hubcap flying saucers.

The "hubcaps" are yet another enduring myth about this classic turkey. The saucers were actually Lindberg plastic flying saucer models, originally produced in 1954 and re-issued many times since.

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Krel
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back in the late 70s, early 80s Lindberg reissued the Flying Saucer kit. The weekend after I and some friends bought one, we saw Plan 9 at a convention. It gave us something else to laugh at in the movie. Laughing

The Alien's Electrode Gun was a "Space Patrol" gun, lightly modified.


They put a plug in the barrel, and some tubes, or dowels on the side.

David.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 18, 2021 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All true gentlemen! BUT this movie is exquisite!

Unintentional it may be, but NO other bad movie has reached the pinnicle that PLAN 9 has attained in that it illustrates the passion of the moviemaker!

Any of us who ever tried to make a Super 8 opus has fallen far short of what Eddie W attained! This movie has the heart of the untalented director all over it.

Bad as it may be...I love it!

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2023 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

______________________________________________

Gordon, I praise your philosophical defense of this movie!

You've convinced me that it differs significantly from the bad sci-fi movies which were made by filmmakers who simply didn't care about the quality of their work — the ones who blatantly insulted their audiences by presenting us with absolute trash, without regard for the intelligence of their viewers! Sad

Conversely, Plan Nine from Outter Space was a labor of love from a filmmaker who sincerely cared about his work . . . even though the results were absolute trash!

Therefore, this movie should not be viewed as an insulting attempt to fool intelligent viewers! It should be viewed as a sincere attempt to entertain intelligent viewers by a filmmaker who didn't know his ass from hole in the ground! Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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