Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957 Independent Sci-Fi Horror film)

Contains Spanish subtitles.
Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and had a theatrical preview screening on March 15, 1957, at the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles (the onscreen title at this time read Grave Robbers from Outer Space). Retitled Plan 9 from Outer Space, it went into general release on July 22, 1959, in Texas and several other southern states before being sold to television in 1961.

The film stars Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson, and "Vampira" (Maila Nurmi) and is narrated by Criswell. It also posthumously bills Bela Lugosi (before Lugosi's death in August 1956, Wood had shot silent footage of Lugosi for another, unfinished film, which was inserted into Plan 9). Other guest stars are Hollywood veterans Lyle Talbot, who said he never refused an acting job, and former cowboy star Tom Keene.

The film's storyline concerns extraterrestrials who seek to stop humanity from creating a doomsday weapon that could destroy the universe.[5] The aliens implement "Plan 9", a scheme to resurrect the Earth's dead. By causing chaos, the aliens hope the crisis will force humanity to listen to them; otherwise, the aliens will destroy mankind with armies of undead.

Plan 9 from Outer Space played on television in relative obscurity from 1961 until 1980, when authors Harry Medved and Michael Medved dubbed it the "worst film ever made" in their book The Golden Turkey Awards. Wood and his film were posthumously given two Golden Turkey Awards for Worst Director Ever and Worst Film Ever. It has since been called "the epitome of so-bad-it's-good cinema" and gained a large cult following.

Plot
Mourners gather around an old man at his wife's grave site as an airliner overhead fly toward Burbank, California. Pilot Jeff Trent and co-pilot Danny are startled by a bright light, accompanied by a loud noise. They look outside and see a flying saucer land at the cemetery, where two gravediggers are killed by a female ghoul.

Lost in grief, the old man is struck and killed by a car near his home. Mourners at his funeral discover the gravediggers' corpses. When Inspector Daniel Clay and his police officers arrive, Clay goes off alone to investigate.

Cast
Gregory Walcott as Jeff Trent
Mona McKinnon as Paula Trent
Duke Moore as Lt. John Harper
Tom Keene as Col. Tom Edwards
Carl Anthony as Patrolman Larry
Paul Marco as Patrolman Kelton
Tor Johnson as Inspector Daniel Clay
Dudley Manlove as Eros
Joanna Lee as Tanna
John Breckinridge as The Ruler
Lyle Talbot as Gen. Roberts
David De Mering as Danny
Norma McCarty as Edie the stewardess
Bill Ash as Captain
Lynn Lemon as Minister at Clay's funeral
Ben Frommer and Gloria Dea as Mourners
Conrad Brooks as Patrolman Jamie
Maila Nurmi (Vampira) as Vampire Girl
Bela Lugosi as the Old Man/Ghoul Man
Tom Mason as Old Man/Ghoul Man stand-in, Lugosi's fake Shemp (uncredited)
Criswell as Himself/Narrator
Karl Johnson as Farmer Calder (uncredited)
Ed Wood as Man Holding Newspaper (uncredited)
J. Edward Reynolds as Gravedigger
Hugh Thomas, Jr. as Gravedigger (also associate producer)

Production
Background and genre

Plan 9's director, Ed Wood
The film combines elements of science fiction, Atompunk, and gothic horror. Science fiction remained popular throughout the 1950s, though the genre had experienced significant changes in the post-war period. The Atomic Age, heralded by the development of nuclear weapons and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, had inspired science fiction films to deal with the dangers of unrestricted science, while space flight and the existence of extraterrestrial life and civilizations (more "traditional" elements of the genre), seemed to hold a new fascination for audiences at the beginning of the Space Race. On the other hand, the height of Gothic film's popularity was during the 1930s and 1940s.

The introduction and its origins
The film opens with an introduction by Wood's friend, psychic Criswell: "Greetings, my friends! We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives!" (This line appears in the narration for General Motors' "Futurama" ride and its accompanying film, To New Horizons, which were part of the 1939 New York World's Fair—years before Criswell's television program.)

Government conspiracy
Through Jeff's initial conversation with his wife, the film introduces the notion of a government and military conspiracy to cover up information on documented UFO sightings. This notion was clearly influenced by the emergence and increased popularity of a UFO conspiracy theory.

Message from the aliens
The film contains a cautionary message from the aliens. The earliest use of this concept in film was probably in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and it had since seen frequent use in science fiction films.