Plan 9 from Outer Space

Bang on time for the spooky season, along comes this fabulous 2-Disc Blu-ray set containing two of notorious director Ed Wood’s low budget horror flicks: PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and BRIDE OF THE MONSTER. Continuity issues, wobbly cardboard sets, abysmal dialogue, mismatched stock footage and a has-been- horror star who had to be replaced with a chiropractor cum occasional actor…what’s not to like?

The main film here is director Ed Wood’s (full name: Edward D. Wood Jr.) magnum opus: PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (aka GRAVE ROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE) from 1957 - hailed as the ‘Worst film ever made’ while director Wood was posthumously presented with a Golden Turkey Award in the  ‘Worst Director ever’ category. Technically speaking and in terms of dialogue, yes - no doubt this film ranks among the worst but whether it really is THE worst, that’s debatable. One thing for sure: over the years and decades, the b/w film gained a huge cult following and now is part of the ‘So bad, it’s good’ category! Famous for its scenes which are shot during daylight, only (for no reason whatsoever) continue at night time and vice versa, not to mention tombs and gravestones made of cardboard which wobbled whenever a cast member accidentally pushed against them, the film should be compulsory watching for every film student on how not to make a movie, no matter how micro the budget!

It gets better though: as for the film's apparent star, has-been horror icon Bela Lugosi who, at that point, was way past his glory days and struggled with addiction…he passed away before Plan 9 even went into production. Luckily (or perhaps not), Wood had filmed some test shots with the frail actor which were meant to be for another future film, however, following Lugosi’s death and in order for Plan 9 to capitalise on his name, Wood incorporated some of the test footage into the film, while for the remaining scenes, chiropractor and part-time actor Tom Mason was used. Consequently Mason, who looked nothing like Lugosi, covered most of his face with part of his black cloak in order to make the audience believe he’s Lugosi though even the biggest fools didn’t fall for the deception! 

And yes, there’s actually a plot, in which Lugosi (the real one) is seen at a graveside mourning the death of his beloved wife. Some days later, he leaves his home heartbroken (presumably to buy groceries or a shot of morphine…) when he’s knocked over by a car and voila, he too is buried, albeit not next to his wife but in what is supposed to be the family tomb (enter wobbly doors etc). Meanwhile, two extraterrestrial commanders called Eros (Dudley Manlove) and Tanna (Joanna Lee), who have already failed eight times in their attempts to conquer planet Earth, put ‘Plan 9’ into action, hoping to use electrical devices to reanimate recently buried corpses as an army of zombies. This plan is approved by the Ruler (Bunny Breckinridge) of Space Station 7, whose wandering eyes suggest he may have read some of his lines from an idiot board. Anyway, Eros and Tanna take course towards Earth in their flying saucer (a cardboard wonder painted in metallic silver) when the UFO is spotted by pilot Jeff Trent (Gregory Walcott) and co-pilot Danny (David de Mering). Cue for stock footage images as more and more flying saucers are spotted over Washington and so on, with the army (yes, stock footage) now employed. Even Jeff Trent’s wife Paula (Mona McKinnon) has a close encounter.

Soon, Lugosi’s dead wife (played by back then hugely popular horror TV-host Vampira) raises as a zombie, followed by her husband (this time it’s chiropractor Mason, not Lugosi), with several more zombies to follow, including Inspector Clay (played by professional wrestler and Wood regular Tor Johnson). By turning the dead into the living dead, the aliens intend to force the governments of planet Earth to halt the development of the highly explosive "Solaranite" bomb, which could potentially shatter the very fabric of the universe. Cue for more schlocktastic mayhem! Apparently, Vampira (real name: Maila Nurmi) asked Wood, who also wrote the script, not to pen any lines for her, as she deemed the dialogue terrible and yes, it is! For example, when alien Eros goes into a rage about the human race and rants, “Stupid! Your stupid, stupid minds!” Call me impressed! One can’t help agreeing with clairvoyant ‘The Amazing Criswell’ as he concludes with the lines, “God help us in the future” - a somewhat ironic statement considering how poorly the film was received.Bonus material consists of new and archive audio commentaries, intro by Mark Kermode, Criswell Predicts, All about Ed: archive interviews with family and friends, trailers.

On to the second feature, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER (aka BRIDE OF THE ATOM) from 1955. This Sci-fi horror was specifically written by Ed Wood as a homage to Bela Lugosi, who here features prominently and yes, it’s really him throughout! Sadly, the film also marked the final speaking role for Lugosi who portrays fugitive nuclear scientist (it goes without saying he’s mad) Dr. Erich Vornoff who, having been exiled from his (unspecified) native country, now hides in a creepy old mansion, complete with a secret lab, surrounded by swampland. For company he has his mute assistant Lobo (Tor Johnson) and a giant octopus (more stock footage plus a prop which couldn’t have cost more than a few cents). Said Octopus is some sort of guardian dog, only with tentacles. Vornoff’s aim is to create an army of superhuman mutants and this he hopes to achieve with the aid of deeply dodgy experiments using atomic energy.

Of course, such experiments require a constant supply of human guinea pigs and Lobo sees to it that hunters and strangers, who accidentally come too close to the mansion, will be turned into guinea pigs. After several people have recently been reported as missing, feisty newspaper reporter Janet Lawton (Loretta King) takes it upon herself to investigate against the advice of her fiancé, police lieutenant Dick Craig (Tony McCoy). Suffice to say that trouble is a-brewing the minute she enters Willow House, Vornoff’s abode, and soon regrets her decision to investigate the scientist… Despite its low-budget, the film feels more accomplished technically and the lab looks impressive enough. If only the same things could be said about the octopus…Here, bonus material consists of new and archive audio commentaries, ‘Bela Lugosi leaves the sanatorium’ clip, the surreal, 3min ‘Bride of the Monster’ homage ‘White Lies’ by artist Jeff Keen, the hilarious CFF feature ‘Kadoyng’ from 1972, trailers, image gallery, and illustrated booklet.