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Plan 9 From Outer Space

Play trailer Poster for Plan 9 From Outer Space 1957 1h 19m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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66% Tomatometer 38 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Residents of California's San Fernando Valley are under attack by flying saucers from outer space. The aliens, led by Eros (Dudley Manlove) and his assistant, Tanna (Joanna Lee), intend to conquer the planet by resurrecting corpses in a Hollywood cemetery. The living dead -- a cape-wearing ghoul (Bela Lugosi), a vampire (Vampira) and a slow-footed cop (Tor Johnson) who was killed for his nosiness -- stalk curious humans who wander into the cemetery looking for evidence of the UFOs.
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Plan 9 From Outer Space

Plan 9 From Outer Space

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Critics Consensus

The epitome of so-bad-it's-good cinema, Plan 9 From Outer Space is an unintentionally hilarious sci-fi "thriller" from anti-genius Ed Wood that is justly celebrated for its staggering ineptitude.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker Wood lacked both the dramatic sense to unfold his speculations in action and the technique (as well as the money) to embody, in any plausible way, his spectacular fancies, but their crude approximations vibrate with his stifled exaltation. Aug 29, 2016 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader J. Hoberman of the Village Voice has made a case for Wood as an unconscious avant-gardist; there's no denying that his blunders are unusually creative and oddly expressive. Mar 28, 2007 Full Review Derek Adams Time Out It all ends with famous psychic Criswell asking the audience, 'Can you prove it didn't happen? God help us in the future'. Prophetic. Feb 9, 2006 Full Review James Berardinelli ReelViews I have seen high school productions with better (and more professional) acting. Rated: 1/4 Nov 1, 2021 Full Review Josiah Teal Film Threat I genuinely love this film and, with complete conviction, believe everyone should see this. It is so bad that it's flawless. Rated: 10/10 May 11, 2021 Full Review Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm What distinguishes Plan 9 from the other contenders for worst film of all time is the movie's brazen sense of confidence. Rated: 3/4 Apr 23, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ryan P If you’re looking for a cheesy bad movie, then Plan 9 from Outer Space may very well be what you’re looking for. Plan 9 from Outer Space is a horror movie that was first screened in 1957, directed by Ed Wood. Plan 9 attempts to make a horror plot by incorporating traditional horror like vampires, zombies, and sci-fi such as aliens. While it may have sounded eventful on paper before its release, the execution of the film was not. In fact, Plan 9 is notably one of the worst films ever to be produced. After watching Plan 9 from Outer Space for myself, I can say for certain that these statements are not overstated. Here's why it’s the worst film to be produced. The entirety and aspects of the film was generally poorly executed, except for the acting to an extent. Most of these sets, such as the airplane, were cheap and made out of cardboard, the costumes were tacky, and there were many instances of poor shots like seeing the strings on the UFOs. In addition, there were instances where planning failed such as when one of their original actors passed and decided it was best to just cover his character's face with a different actor for his replacement. I know I said the acting was good to an extent, but even that’s botched with scenes that have lengthy dialogue that make no sense. I could continue onto other factors such as the camera angles, but what I provided should be enough to prove my point in why Plan 9 is such a bad movie, it has failed in most aspects of pre-production in movie making. I would not recommend Plan 9 to any sort of audience or demographic because it’s just solely for the purpose of a movie with a bad quality. If Plan 9 happens to be on your watch list, it’s best not to take the film seriously as the actors in the film because most recurring viewers of this film watch it ironically and love it for its poor quality. If that happens to be your taste, then this film is for you but not for viewers like me. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/16/25 Full Review Stephen C Success in 1 hour and 19 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dubbed and subtitled in worldwide studios!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Filmed in color and black and white versions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/30/25 Full Review John S This is not hilarious intentionally or otherwise. Mercifully short. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 10/04/25 Full Review Beckett E I’m going to be honest, this movie actually sucks. You can clearly see the strings attached to the UFOs, and one of the actors died on set, so the replacement actor hides his face with a cape the whole time so it’s like Dracula made a guest appearance. Whatever you do don’t watch this movie, unless you’re wanting to watch a really bad movie. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/12/25 Full Review Kerry J Flawlessly terrible. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/30/25 Full Review mark g So catastrophically awful that it is incredibly entertaining. And no, this was not Wood's intention, he was just that awful of filmmaker... I mean, awesome of filmmaker. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/29/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Plan 9 From Outer Space

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Movie Info

Synopsis Residents of California's San Fernando Valley are under attack by flying saucers from outer space. The aliens, led by Eros (Dudley Manlove) and his assistant, Tanna (Joanna Lee), intend to conquer the planet by resurrecting corpses in a Hollywood cemetery. The living dead -- a cape-wearing ghoul (Bela Lugosi), a vampire (Vampira) and a slow-footed cop (Tor Johnson) who was killed for his nosiness -- stalk curious humans who wander into the cemetery looking for evidence of the UFOs.
Director
Edward D. Wood Jr.
Producer
Edward D. Wood Jr.
Screenwriter
Edward D. Wood Jr.
Distributor
Distributors Corporation of America Inc.
Production Co
Reynolds Pictures Inc.
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 15, 1957, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 26, 2011
Runtime
1h 19m
Sound Mix
Mono
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