On July 22, 1959, Edward D. Wood Jr.'s "Plan 9 From Outer Space" began its run on a state-by-state basis. Though labeled "Grave Robbers from Outer Space" when filmed in '56 (and having premiered as such to a private party in '57), the rise of "Plan 9" was gradual, having gained cult status more through television (and offbeat time slots) than the big screen. Still, it has become a quirky classic that only its eccentric writer/director could have conceived.
Its plot is simple, unfurling like a Halloween play that kids have staged in their backyard: Invading aliens resurrect the dead to attack the living.
Its cast is impressive: Bela Lugosi; Lyle Tablot; Mailia Nurmi (Vampira); Criswell; Tor Johnson; Gregory Walcott; Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon; Dudley Manlove; Bunny Breckinridge; Duke Moore; Joanna Lee; Paul Marco; Conrad Brooks; and as Lugosi's bountiful stand-in, Tom Mason.
The atmosphere is rich and pulpy. Its science-fiction seasoning pervasive, but the movie invokes more so Universal's monster classics and perhaps to a greater degree, their low-budget competitors, like "The Devil Bat" "The Corpse Vanishes" and "Return of the Vampire". It also acts as a forerunner to "Invisible Invaders", "Night of the Living Dead" and a 2015 homage starring "Cinema Insomnia" host, Mister Lobo.
"Plan 9" is the stuff of mad, giddy nightmares, too often dismissed as uneven and substandard by those whose "stupid minds" can't grasp its grandeur. However, to those of us of superior intellect, it's a childhood favorite that always has and always will command.
Pay your respects with a view at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln7WF78PolA. You know you want to...
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