John M. Jackson

jojacks2[at]vt.edu

Plan 9 from Outer Space:
A Viewer's Appreciation Guide

Reynolds Pictures, 1958
79 minutes, b&w
Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr.

Summary

A race of Bob Newhart look-alike superbeings are determined to stop humanity from developing the Solarbinite Bomb (aka the Solarinite Bomb), which would explode all of the sunlight in the universe. Their first eight plans having failed, the aliens try Plan 9, the conquest of Earth by an army of re-animated corpses, controlled by the aliens' electrode guns. Jeff and Paula Trent, who live near the California cemetery which is the aliens' base of operations, assist the army and local law enforcement officers who are called in to investigate strange sightings in the area. What will the aliens' next move be?

Review

Favorite quotes:

• "Future events such as these will affect you in the future."
• "'Visits?' That would indicate visitors."
• "I saw a flying saucer."
  "Saucer?! You mean the kind from up there?"
  "Yeah, or its counterpart."
• "One thing's for sure... Inspector Clay is dead... murdered... and somebody's responsible."
• "I'm muzzled by army brass!"
• "Suppose we go down and find out whose grave it is."
  "But how?"
  "By going down and finding out!"
  "Are you sure you mean that, lieutenant?"
  "If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't have said it!"
• "The saucer's are up there. And the cemetery's out there. but I'll be locked up in there."
• "You see?! You see?!! Your stupid minds! Stupid!! Stupid!!"
• "Right, G-2."
• "That's the most fantastic story I've ever heard."
  "And every word of it's true, too."
  "That's the most fantastic part of it."

Favorite goofs (Only a small sample):

• Scenes change from day to night and back again for no apparent reason.
• The shadow of a boom microphone may be seen on-camera.
• As Bela Lugosi's character walks out of camera range and is supposedly struck by a car, the still figure of his shadow can still be seen on-camera.
• A morgue worker accidentally bumps into a tombstone, making it wobble.
• Following the death of Bela Lugosi, a stand-in appears, holding a cape over his face to (very poorly) disguise the fact that he bears no resemblance to Lugosi.
• Detective Harper scratches his neck with the barrel of his loaded gun, then waves it carelessly at those standing near him.
• All of the "high-tech" apparatus in the space station sits on cheap wooden furniture.
• The same chair which appears on the Trents' patio is later seen as part of their bedroom furniture.
• The zombie-fied Inspector Clay has difficulty rising from his grave.
• The flying saucer, which has always appeared round in long shots, later appears in close-ups with square walls.
• Bullets cannot harm the zombie-fied Clay, but he can easily be knocked out with a stick.
• While some characters refer to "solarbinite," others use the term "solarinite."

Last updated: March 12, 2004

Visitors to this site since February 5, 2004