Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957)

If you were to look up the best ‘so bad they’re good’ film, then Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957) will likely always be one of the first to pop up. A film that is infamous for its low quality, it has become somewhat of a cult classic, even being somewhat immortalised by Tim Burton in his film, Ed Wood (1994). I have been aware of the film for several years and have been meaning to watch it out of some morbid curiosity. I have also seen some of the other classic films in the ‘so bad they’re good’ genre such as The Room (2003) and Troll 2 (1990) so it is not my first rodeo. And not to my great shock, as happens with many of these kinds of films, once the initial fun of how bad it is wears off it becomes a bit of a snooze fest.

Of course, initially I was having fun with this. The cheapness of it is evident immediately and consistently, with sets that look like they would blow away in a light breeze, but also just look like you’ve thrown it together using materials found in your house somewhere. The acting is also horrible. While you get a few actors doing a decent job, the majority are putting in performances that wouldn’t look out of place in a school production. You can see the strings holding up the UFOs whenever they appear, and you’ve got a script that includes some of the worst dialogue put to screen. But the most hilarious aspect of the film is in relation to Bella Lugosi’s appearance in the film. Whenever he is on screen these are scenes shot initially for a different film and reused in this, seeing as he was dead when this film was being shot. But his character is used throughout the film and so new footage was needed. How did they get around this? Well, the actor playing that character just holds a cloak across his face the entire time he is on screen. Just a ridiculous visual which makes you wonder who thought that was a good idea. But the problem of the film, as previously mentioned, is that once you have got the laughs out the way for all of the above reasons, the ‘its good’ fades away and you left with the ‘so bad’ aspects, and it just becomes a chore to sit through. As a result, I can’t possibly recommend it unless you are either a glutton for punishment or have a liking for these kinds of films. Otherwise I would steer clear.