Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)

Ed Wood must have been a fascinating man. He had a burning drive and ambition to succeed in the film industry, yet his creative and directorial talents were infantile.

Plan 9 is his most famous film and has become a cult favourite. The film is an example of extreme amateurism which creates an assortment of unintentionally funny scenes. It's truly amazing this film managed to be funded and released to the public (then again, The Swarm was too …).

Within Plan 9's ridiculous and convoluted story are a number of silly subplots due to the fact that Ed had such a variety of interesting an un-related footage which he really, really wanted to use in the one film. One needs to pay close attention to understand everything that's going on in this mess (although, when you do understand everything that's going on, you may wish you'd have remained ignorant!)

Plan 9 has heaps of priceless quirks: hub-cap flying saucers, idiotic dialogue, the last gasp of the great Bella Lugosi, and the luscious Vampira (who apparently would have breached an existing contract if she uttered a word in Plan 9).

One of the most interesting aspects of Plan 9 is the great variation in performance techniques by the actors. Some speak their lines like they know the script is idiotic while some speak their lines like they don't understand them (which is possible because some of the dialogue uttered by the bumbling aliens doesn't make any sense). But my favourite character is the airline captain played by Gregory Walcott.

Greg's a real trooper and attempts to take his role very, very seriously despite the constant lunacy around him. How did he remain so professional? Did he imagine his role in Plan 9 would lead to greater things?

Although Ed Wood has been voted by the US film industry as the worst director in history, he lives on as a kind of cult anti-hero. As a director then, he has achieved a level of lasting success.

6/10 – For fun value.