Post by Heineken Skywalker on Oct 22, 2006 15:14:59 GMT -5
This was probably my third time seeing this infamous Ed Wood "classic", but my wife had never seen it, so of course I had to initiate her. ;D
Man, it just gets better with age. And by better, of course I mean funnier. Unintentionally.
Take for instance this nugget of dialogue, the opening intro by the narrator, Criswell:
Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown... the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you, the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony, of the miserable souls, who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places. My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts of grave robbers from outer space?
Man, that's gold, right there. ;D
The plot, as it were, has something to do with aliens bringing dead humans back to life to try to destroy all life on earth because with our war-like ways we're on the path of destroying the entire universe. Um, or something like that.
There's no doubt that Wood did not set out to make camp classics and that he really was trying to make good films, but you'd be hard pressed to prove it by the ineptness seen on screen. Never have so many, with so little talent, come together to make something so substandard. From the non-acting, to the not so special effects, to the (giggle) dialogue. And of course there's the infamous "casting" of Bela Lugosi. Because Bela passed away before they began shooting the film, Wood just used some old footage he had shot of Lugosi combined with a bad body double. Now there's commitment!
I'm going to forego my usual rating of a film on the 1-10 scale because, seriously, I'm not sure how to rate PLAN 9. I certainly can't rate it a 10 because even as a goof, that would be an insult to true 10/10 films. But I also can't rate it a 1/10, because despite it's numerous flaws, and let's face it, the movie is one big flaw, the movie is damn entertaining, even if it is for completely unintentional reasons. Whether it's laughing at the tenth-rate flying saucers, the bad use of stock footage, the elementary school play "acting" or the "What the hell does that even mean?" dialogue, I can't help but smile or laugh. And even though it was not the filmmaker's original intent, that's worth something right there.
Cheers Mr. Wood! You were a terrible filmmaker, but you managed to entertain us in spite of your "talent".
Man, it just gets better with age. And by better, of course I mean funnier. Unintentionally.
Take for instance this nugget of dialogue, the opening intro by the narrator, Criswell:
Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown... the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you, the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony, of the miserable souls, who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places. My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts of grave robbers from outer space?
Man, that's gold, right there. ;D
The plot, as it were, has something to do with aliens bringing dead humans back to life to try to destroy all life on earth because with our war-like ways we're on the path of destroying the entire universe. Um, or something like that.
There's no doubt that Wood did not set out to make camp classics and that he really was trying to make good films, but you'd be hard pressed to prove it by the ineptness seen on screen. Never have so many, with so little talent, come together to make something so substandard. From the non-acting, to the not so special effects, to the (giggle) dialogue. And of course there's the infamous "casting" of Bela Lugosi. Because Bela passed away before they began shooting the film, Wood just used some old footage he had shot of Lugosi combined with a bad body double. Now there's commitment!
I'm going to forego my usual rating of a film on the 1-10 scale because, seriously, I'm not sure how to rate PLAN 9. I certainly can't rate it a 10 because even as a goof, that would be an insult to true 10/10 films. But I also can't rate it a 1/10, because despite it's numerous flaws, and let's face it, the movie is one big flaw, the movie is damn entertaining, even if it is for completely unintentional reasons. Whether it's laughing at the tenth-rate flying saucers, the bad use of stock footage, the elementary school play "acting" or the "What the hell does that even mean?" dialogue, I can't help but smile or laugh. And even though it was not the filmmaker's original intent, that's worth something right there.
Cheers Mr. Wood! You were a terrible filmmaker, but you managed to entertain us in spite of your "talent".
