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U.S.A. / 1959
Directed by Ed Wood
Starring
Tor Johnson
Vampira
Dudley Manlove
B&W / 78 Minutes / Not Rated
Format: DVD (R0 - NTSC)
Image Entertainment
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8
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10 |
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10
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Everyone
knows this is is a turkey, but it's certainly not the worst
American film ever made — not by
a long shot. Just screening the first 10 minutes of
The Creeping Terror or Manos:
The Hands Of Fate should prove sufficient to cure anyone
of that misconception. Have no doubt, however;
Plan 9 is a bad movie —
ludicrously bad. It's to Ed Wood's credit that his sci-fi magnum
opus is charmingly bad in a way that will doubtless
garner fans for decades to come.
I'm not going to describe much of the film's
plot here; if you're visiting this website than it's almost
a sure bet you've seen it at one time or another. Something
about humanoid aliens who terrorize the skies above Hollywood
in pie tin spaceships, intent on conquering Earth by reanimating
the bodies of the recently deceased. (Which makes me wonder...
which came first: this or Invisible
Invaders? No matter.) The acting, special effects
and (practically non-existent) production values are simply
awful, the nonsensical script a goldmine of unintentional laughs.
(Yes, Wood — who also penned the
screenplay — was actually serious,
"solarmanite bomb" and all.) Whether it's the obviously
cardboard tombstones, astoundingly stupid "day for night" photography
or the delightfully clumsy performances (massive Tor Johnson
is a real hoot), Plan 9 provides
guaranteed laughs.
It's kind of sad to see the frail, dying
Bela Lugosi in the bits of footage Wood shot a few years earlier
and later incorporated into the film (repeating some of it a
number of times). In an oddball sort of way, though, it's almost
appropriate that Lugosi — forever
the undead Count Dracula in the collective consciousness of
the world's moviegoers — should
"rise from the grave" to make one last appearance on the silver
screen... even if that shoddy "screen" is patched with duct
tape, propped up with the shakiest of supports.
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The
Image DVD, part of the Wade Williams Collection, will prove
a delectable slice of "Edwoodian" cheese to any fan
of the movie. Occasional bit of film damage aside, this is the
absolute best Plan
9 has
ever looked. Ditto for the aural quality of the disc's digital
mono audio track.
Making the DVD a must-have is the inclusion of the bonus feature
Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The Plan 9 Companion, an
exhaustive documentary on Wood and the making of his bona fide
cheese classic. Surviving cast members are interviewed and original
shooting locations are visited; noteworthy fans of the film, such
as directors Sam Raimi (The
Evil Dead) and Joe Dante (Piranha),
original 'Monster Kid' Forrest J Ackerman and author Bill Warren
(Keep Watching the Skies), also weigh in. Amazingly, the
two hour documentary runs 42 minutes longer than its subject!
4/15/01 |
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