Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Plan 9 from Outer Space (originally titled Grave Robbers from Outer Space) is a 1959 American black-and-white science fiction horror film released by Distributors Corporation of America (as Valiant Pictures). The film was written, produced, directed and edited by Ed Wood, and stars Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson, Vampira and posthumously bills Bela Lugosi as a star (silent footage of the actor had actually been shot by Wood for another, unfinished film just prior to Lugosi's death in 1956).

The film tells the story of extraterrestrials who are seeking to stop humanity from creating a doomsday weapon that could destroy the universe. The aliens implement "Plan 9", a scheme to resurrect the Earth's dead. (Modern audiences would call these undead creatures zombies, but Plan 9 refers to them as "ghouls".) By causing chaos, the aliens hope the crisis will force humanity to listen to them. If not, the aliens will then destroy mankind with armies of the undead.

Plan 9 from Outer Space played on television in relative obscurity until 1980, when authors Michael and Harry Medved dubbed the film the "worst movie ever made". Both Wood and his film were posthumously awarded two of Medveds' Golden Turkey Awards, as the Worst Director Ever and Worst Film, respectively.

Synopsis

At the funeral of an Old Man's wife, mourners are gathered by an open grave, among them her husband (Bela Lugosi). Overhead, an airliner is heading towards Burbank, California. The pilot Jeff Trent (Gregory Walcott) and his co-pilot Danny (David De Mering) are blinded by a bright light and loud sound. They look outside and see a flying saucer. The pilots follow the saucer's flight until it lands at the graveyard, where the funeral's gravediggers are killed by a female zombie (Maila Nurmi).

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