TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: MAILA & TOR (VAMPIRA & INSPECTOR CLAY)

HAPPY 60TH, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE!!!

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...

SO LONG, CONRAD BROOKS...

You were the last remaining of Edward D. Wood Jr.'s cinematic clan, having costarred in "Plan 9 From Outer Space"; "Bride of the Monster"; "Night of the Ghouls"; "Glen or Glenda"; "Jail Bait"; and "The Sinister Urge".

You also made us smile with your special appearances in "Beast of Yucca Flats", which headlined your good buddy, Tor Johnson; "Max Hell: Frog Warrior"; "Toad Warrior"; "A Polish Vampire in Burbank"; "Curse of the Queerwolf"; "Conrad Brooks vs the Werewolf"; "Monster Man"; "Toilet Gator"; "Space Vampires from the Planet Blood"; "Bikini Drive-in"; and of course, the new "Plan 9" (2015), with dear, ol' Mr. Lobo...to name but a few. You also took a stab at directing/producing, gifting us with the "Gypsy Vampire" and "Hillbilly Monster" sagas, in addition to "Blood Slaves of the Vampire Wolf." 

You clearly loved life, Mr. Brooks, which included your adoring fans, who always felt fulfilled and elated after meeting you. May you enjoy your time in eternity with the old gang. I can only imagine all the eccentric wonders you're yet to concoct in the Great Beyond...