Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction/horror film written, produced, and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi. The film also claims to posthumously star Bela Lugosi through use of footage of the actor shot by Wood just before Lugosi's death in 1956.
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.
Synopsis
Airline pilot Jeff Trent and his co-pilot Danny encounter a flying saucer. Meanwhile, two gravediggers are filling the grave of a deceased woman. Suddenly, they hear a strange noise, and decide to leave the cemetery. As they turn to leave, they see a dead woman walking towards them with her arms raised.
Absorbed in his grief over his wife's death, an old man walks out of his house and into the path of an oncoming automobile. At his funeral, two mourners discover the corpses of the gravediggers from the previous scene. Inspector Daniel Clay, along with several police officers, comes to the cemetery to investigate. Clay encounters the female zombie, who is now joined by the corpse of the old man. Clay is killed by the zombies. When his body is found, a police officer speaks the improbable words : "Inspector Clay is dead...murdered...and somebody's responsible!".
Jeff Trent is watching the cemetery with his wife, Paula, and tells her about his flying saucer encounter, stating that the U.S. Army has sworn him to secrecy about what he saw. He suspects that whatever is happening in the cemetery is related to his UFO encounter. Suddenly, a powerful wind knocks everyone to the ground. A spaceship lands nearby.
In the weeks that follow, newspaper headlines report other flying saucer sightings. The military, under the command of Colonel Thomas Edwards, finally attacks the alien spaceships. The spaceships leave Earth. Colonel Edwards reveals that the government has been covering up the flying saucer visits to Earth, and he wonders if the alien visits are connected to other Earth disasters.
The aliens return to Space Station 7 for regeneration. Their commander, Eros, informs the Ruler that he has attempted, unsuccessfully, to contact the governments of Earth. He tells the Ruler that to force the people of Earth to acknowledge his people's existence, he is implementing Plan Nine, which involves resurrecting people who have recently died by stimulating their pituitary and pineal glands. The three alien ships return to Earth.
Jeff is about to leave home again for another flight. Concerned for Paula's safety, he urges her to stay with her mother while he's gone, but she insists on staying home. That night, the corpse of the old man rises from his crypt and sneaks into their house. Joined by the corpse of his wife and the newly resurrected Daniel Clay, he chases Paula through the cemetery. Paula collapses and is found by a passing motorist who drives away with her limp body. All three zombies return to Eros' ship, which lifts off.
At the Pentagon, General Roberts informs Colonel Edwards that the government has been receiving messages from the aliens. The general plays the last message, which has been translated into English by a recently invented "language computer." The general sends Edwards to San Fernando, California, where most of the aliens' activities have occurred.
In California, the police interview the Trents about their experiences with the aliens. Unbeknownst to them, the alien saucer has returned to the graveyard. While waiting by the police car, officer Kelton encounters the old man. The old man chases the officer to the Trents' house, where they attempt to shoot him, with no effect. The nearby aliens strike the old man with a "decomposite ray", causing his body to decompose, leaving only his skeleton. Not knowing what to make of this, they decide to drive to the cemetery.
On board the ship, Eros and Tanna send Clay to kidnap Paula in order to lure the other three to their spaceship, which he does. Meanwhile, seeing a glow in the distance, the other three head toward the ship.
Eros allows them to enter, and they board with their guns drawn. Once inside, Eros tells the humans that his people first came to Earth to talk and to ask for their aid, but the humans wouldn't listen to their messages. According to Eros, the humans will eventually discover the solarbonite, a bomb that has the effect of exploding "sunlight molecules." Eros explains that a solarbonite explosion would destroy everything the sunlight touches, causing a chain reaction that would eventually destroy the entire universe. "If you have the solarbonite, you have nothing!"
Outside the ship, Clay arrives with Paula. Eros threatens to have her killed if they try to force him to go with them. The two police officers arrive and spot Clay with Paula. They realize that their guns are useless, and decide to approach Clay from behind with a stick. Eros sees this, and shuts off the ray controlling Clay, allowing Paula to go free. A fight ensues inside between Eros and Jeff. During the fight, a fire is started. The humans leave the ship, and it takes off in flames. Eros and Tanna are trapped as the ship explodes in space. As a consequence of the explosion, Clay and the female zombie turn into skeletons.
Cast
Credited
- Gregory Walcott as Jeff Trent
- Mona McKinnon as Paula Trent
- Duke Moore as Lt. John Harper
- Tom Keene as Col. Tom Edwards
- Carl Anthony as Patrolman Larry
- Paul Marcoas Patrolman Kelton
- Tor Johnson as Insp. Dan Clay
- Dudley Manlove as Eros
- Joanna Lee as Tanna
- John Breckinridge as The Ruler
- Lyle Talbot as General Roberts
- David De Mering as Danny
- Norma McCarty as Edith
- Bill Ash as Captain
- Reverend Lynn Lemon as Minister at Insp. Clay's Funeral
- Ben Frommer as Mourner
- Gloria Dea as Mourner
- Conrad Brooks as Patrolman Jamie
- Vampira as Vampire Girl
- Bela Lugosi as Ghoul Man
- Criswell as Himself / Narrator
Uncredited
- Donald A. Davis as Drunk
- Johnny Duncan
- Karl Johnson as Farmer Calder
- Tom Mason as Ghoul Man with Cape Over Face
- J. Edward Reynolds as Gravedigger
- Hugh Thomas Jr. as Gravedigger
- Edward D. Wood Jr. as Man Holding Newspaper
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 . When Lugosi died, he had only completed a few minutes of footage, and Wood shelved the project. 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. Plan 9 from Outer Space was shot in 1956, bears a copyright date of 1958, and was finally released to a small number of theaters in 1959.
Mistakes
Plan 9 From Outer Space is widely noted for having a plethora of obvious goofs. 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. Criswell's opening narration redundantly informs the viewer how "future events such as these will affect you in the future." Soon afterward, he states that the story has already "happened on that fateful day."
Several exterior sets on sound-stages are interspersed with second unit footage shot outdoors (for example, the old man's corpse chases Paula Trent through the cemetery). Among a number of these scenes, the outdoor footage was intended to be shot day-for-night, but this is not apparent in video transfers of the film, making these scenes contrast harshly against the on-set footage. Whether this is an error on the part of the modern video master or one on the part of Ed Wood and the film lab is unknown. Similarly, one porthole on the alien spaceship shows a cloudy day (shown during a scene set at night), while the others show only blackness.
Mason's attempts to hide the fact that he is not Lugosi are unsuccessful. As an
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