PLAN 9 Returns To Earth. Seriously.
Darkstone Entertainment plans to remake Ed Wood's camp classic Plan Nine From Outer Space as a scary movie.
Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1959 cult classic sci-fi/horror flick Plan Nine From Outer Space, director John Johnson and his production company, Darkstone Entertainment, will release their simply-titled Plan 9, a "serious-minded retelling of the original," which now is in the public domain.
Written, produced and directed by the infamous Edward D. Wood, Jr. (Bride of the Monster), Plan Nine From Outer Space features wrestler Tor Johnson, venerable character actor Lyle Talbot and late night TV host Maila "Vampira" Nurmi, with a (posthumous) cameo by horror legend Bela Lugosi (Shortly before his death in 1956, Lugosi shot a few minutes of footage for Wood's proposed film Tomb of the Vampire, which Wood later incorporated into what was initially called Grave Robbers from Outer Space).
The anti-war plot focused on a group of humanoid aliens (led by Wood's friend, John "Bunny" Breckenridge) who resurrected Earth's dead (including Johnson and the mute Vampira) as zombies to stop humanity from creating a doomsday weapon that would destroy the universe. The aliens called their scheme "Plan Nine."
"Greetings, my friend," began famous predictor Criswell at the film's opening. "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."
Because of such laughable dialogue, as well as bargain basement special effects and numerous production goofs (visible in the released film), Plan 9 From Outer Space has been hailed as one of the worst movies ever made, earning Wood a posthumous Golden Turkey Award as worst director in cinema history.
Despite these "accolades," filmmaker John Johnson states on the brand-new Plan 9 website that "genre audiences could not resist the exuberance and love for the art of filmmaking that showed in Wood's work, and the movie has become a cherished cult classic that still survives on home video and in midnight screenings across the world."
"How could a film that has brought so much enjoyment to so many people be called 'the worst film ever made'?" asked LAURENCE SCHWARTZ in a post on IMDB. "I have seen major Hollywood products with major Hollywood stars and some of these films are impossible to sit through even once. Dick Tracy comes to mind, as does Caligula. The very first time I saw Plan 9 in a NYC revival house, just hearing Tor Johnson's struggle with English pronunciation and watching him wriggle out of the ground was worth the price of admission! It was probably the hardest I'd laughed in a movie theatre in many years."
"Even if Eddie was a little off in his filmmaking skills, you cannot deny his passion," John Johnson insists. "I feel a strong camaraderie for the man and his work, and hope that I can make a film that would be as loved by audiences today as the original was for his generation...Only this time with its true intention."
Proceeding with the blessing and participation of sole surviving original Plan 9 collaborator Conrad Brooks (left), Johnson intends to produce a character-driven sci-fi/horror film rather than a campy homage, (generously) believing that to be the kind of movie Wood himself would have made "if not bound by the technological limitations placed on filmmakers 50 years ago."
The new Plan 9 is scheduled to premiere on September 9, 2009.
[Thanks to MR.DISGUSTING at Bloody-Disgusting.com, and to Wikipedia for background info on the original Plan 9.]