Horror Movie Reviews

Compare at: $14.95 (New)
Buy Now: $13.49 (New)

You Save: $1.46 (10%)

Add to Cart

Title: Plan 9 from Outer Space - In COLOR! Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced! (2008)
Format: DVD
Score:
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Vampira, Tor Johnson, and Dudley Manlove
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Runtime: 79 minutes
Hits: 195
Favorite:
Collection:

Review of Plan 9 from Outer Space - In COLOR! Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced!

[ Back to Homepage | Back to Horror Movie Reviews Index ]

HellHorror.com not responsible for reviews/comments and they may be removed at any time.

Comments for Plan 9 from Outer Space - In COLOR! Also Includes the Original Black-and-White Version which has been Beautifully Restored and Enhanced!

• Posted on 2010-08-13
  Bad Planning!
  
  I had to watch the "worst film ever made" to not only see for myself but also to review this film, try not to think too hard and check it out.
  
  I've seen many cornball 1950s sci-fi films, some excellent and some pretty hokey. Plan 9 is an insult to hokey.
  
  The film starts out with a white-haired man, who also subs as our narrator. He's given the sign and name "Criswell Predicts" or some such, rambling about the future and how that's where we will spend the rest of our lives (oh really?). He ends his speech with saying the innocent will be rewarded and the guilty punished. And then he babbles about graverobbers from space!
  
  Holy alarmist!
  
  The story starts out with people at a gravesite burying an old man's wife. The old man is Bela Lugosi in his last appearance on film. He's the only one actually acting with proper grief while others stare into space or pretend to read a bible.
  
  Later, we are spotting flying saucers that somehow buzz people with a swoosh sound but no wind. A woman rises and wiggles her fingers at two gravediggers. It's reported they were "tore up like by a bobcat" but she didn't do anything!
  
  The editing is horrible. Day, night, light, dark. Hard to tell what time it is.
  
  Inspector Clay, played by Grade Z actor Tor Johnson, has the strangest accent for an LA policeman. He dies early in the film. His sergeant takes over the investigation and says, "He's dead, murdered and someone is responsible!" Wow!
  
  We jump into the saucers, lots of them, as they wiggle and look like used kitchen appliances on wires. Newspaper headlines, saucers over Hollywood! Saucers over D.C.! And we see all the major TV networks being buzzed: ABC, CBS and NBC and even a theater with Eartha Kitt appearing! What??
  
  A general in charge of "saucer field activities" tries to shoot the saucers down to no avail. What I don't get is why his superior officer tells him that the government denies they even exist and threatens him with a court martial, but they've already been seen by hundreds of people and appeared in the newspapers. How can it be denied? Makes no sense.
  
  Aliens: They look like regular people who have a strange salute by slapping their shoulders cross-armed. Had to do something I guess. The saucers fly to and fro from a big "Space Station 7" where the aliens plan on Plan 9, the restimulation of the recently dead with their "electro guns." Why they want to do this was vague throughout most of the film.
  
  And the story goes....
  
  I was impressed with Lugosi, how he whipped his cape around, making tough gestures with his ands and arms. It's unfortunate he had to pass on in an Ed Woods film!
  
  Recommended for film students on how not to make a zombie film!
  
  
  
  
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
• Posted on 2010-07-09
  PLAN 9 COLORIZED
  
  This is for the LEGEND FILMS release.
  They did a great job on this. This is one of only two movies, (the other is KING KONG) for which I prefer the colorized versions. It also has a very clean print of the original B&W version. And the bonus features are great, especially the Ed Wood Home Movies!
  
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
• Posted on 2010-06-02
  This "Plan 9" Rates a TEN!!!
  
  All of the previous rave reviews of this DVD are true! It is the most crisp picture I've seen and the best sound quality I've heard for "Plan 9". Also, the bonus documentary is absolutely first-rate. It alone is surely worth the price of this outstanding DVD. In addition to encountering "Flying Saucers Over Hollywood", you'll see precious footage and interviews of Plan 9 cast and crew members, plus rare Ed Wood clips. The Bela insights and footage and Vampira's screen time are awesome. I truly regret that I never got to meet them myself. Isn't Vampira cool and a great interview?! And any appearances by our beloved Forrest Ackerman (also in the documentary) are priceless.
  
  On one level, of course, "Plan 9" is a joy to behold because it is "so bad it's great". But there is so much more to it. For me, a child of the 50's and 60's, it's not only enjoyable, but it's truly precious because it is a magnet for so much great stuff we love! It's a cornucopia of fun and a triumphant tribute to Lugosi (and his colleagues, those great Universal Pictures stars), a celebration of their "Shock Theatre" 1950's revival, and, for good measure, even starring a grand movie host of the time, Vampira. Where the early '50's classic "Invaders From Mars" excels because it draws us kids into the story line 'cause it's very much from the child star's vantage point, "Plan 9" goes one better! Ed Wood pieced it together and filmed it as WE might have directed the film as kids! "Cool, you mean you actually got Bela Lugosi footage?!" "I know, let's have Tor Johnson walk through the graveyard here! That would be neat!" "Hey, I saw "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" last Saturday night.That host, Vampira, would be great for our movie...she's spooky!",....,etc.. I think Ed Wood had an absolute ball filming "Plan 9". There is genuine love in every frame. And I have never doubted his true love, respect, and admiration for Bela Lugosi. He was a huge fan of the man in the cape...just like the rest of us.
  
  One final note: HUGE KUDOS to Ali Davis and whoever else wrote AMAZON'S official Product Description and Review (featured just a brief scroll past the initial product photo).Quite simply some of the best WRITING I've encountered in my entire life. Both paragraphs are absolutely impeccable in every way. "Plan 9" fans...treat yourself to a fresh "read" of these two paragraphs. I rate them each "11" on a one to ten scale! Enjoy!
  
  
  
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
• Posted on 2010-03-21
  Classically Bad
  
  As bad as I remember. I bought this to introduce this classic to my teen-ish kids. We had a great evening pointing out all of the flaws. The product arrived in a timely manner, and the quality was excellent. If you like bad campy sci-fi, this is no doubt the best of the worst.
  
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
• Posted on 2010-03-17
  Plan 9 in Color
  
  Plan 9 is probably the only B&W film I don't mind seeing colorized. Usually I'd complain about artistic integrity, but hey, this is Ed Wood we're talking about. The print is in excellent condition and looks great in color, and you purists take note that the B&W original is included as well. The commentary by Mike Nelson from MST3K is pretty good and was expanded for his excellent RiffTrax version RiffTrax: Plan 9 From Outer Space - from the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000!. Other extras include the "deleted scenes," which aren't deleted scenes at all, but some fun the colorists got up to, and some other stuff which is kinda meh but nice enough enough to have. The real gems are the Ed Wood home movies, complete with Ed looking spectacularly tacky in drag, and several of his early TV commercials, one of which Ed stars in. No, Criswell, my heart couldn't stand it! Highly recommended.
  
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10