Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in November of 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). It later went into general release on July 22, 1959 re-titled Plan 9 from Outer Space.
It stars Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson, and “Vampira” (Maila Nurmi) and is narrated by Criswell. It also posthumously bills Bela Lugosi (silent footage of the actor had been shot by Wood for another, unfinished film prior to Lugosi’s death in August 1956, and was inserted into Plan Nine later). Other guest-stars are Hollywood veterans Lyle Talbot, who claimed that he never refused any acting job, and former cowboy star Tom Keene.
Mourners are gathered around an old man at his wife’s grave as an airliner overhead flies toward Burbank, California. Pilot Jeff Trent and co-pilot Danny are blinded by a bright light, accompanied by a loud noise. They look outside and see a flying saucer land at the cemetery, where both gravediggers are killed by a female zombie.
Lost in his grief, the old man is struck by a car and killed. Mourners at the old man’s funeral discover the dead gravediggers’ bodies. When Inspector Daniel Clay and his police officers arrive, Clay goes off alone to investigate.
Jeff and his wife, Paula (who live near the cemetery), hear sirens. He tells her about his flying-saucer encounter, saying that the Army has sworn him to secrecy. As the saucer lands, a powerful swooshing noise knocks the Trents and the people at the cemetery to the ground. Clay is killed by the female and old-man zombies. Lieutenant Harper states: “But one thing’s sure. Inspector Clay is dead, murdered, and somebody’s responsible”.
Newspaper headlines report flying-saucer sightings over Hollywood Boulevard, and three fly across Los Angeles. In Washington, D.C., the military fires missiles at more saucers. Chief of saucer operations Thomas Edwards says that the government has been covering up saucer attacks, and a small town has been annihilated.
Runtime: 1hr 19min
Release Date: 22nd July 1959
Genres: Sci-Fi
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Actors: Gregory Walcott – Tom Keene – Maila Nurmi
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