FAQ for
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Plan 9 from Outer Space can be found here.

No. Plan 9 from Outer Space was both written and directed by American film-maker Edward D. Wood Jr. [1924-1978].

According to His Excellency the Ruler [John Breckinridge], Plan 9 deals with the resurrection of the dead by long distance electrodes shot into the pineal and pituitary glands of recent dead. The plan is to use the dead to carry out their bidding because the dead cannot think.

Yes. In fact, Bela Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 6, 1956 while filming of Plan 9 from Outer Space was still ongoing. Rather than refilm Lugosi's footage as "the old man" or rewrite his parts that had yet to be filmed, Wood hired his wife's chiropractor, Tom Mason, as a stand-in for Lugosi, even though Mason matched Lugosi neither physically or vocally.

While Plan 9 from Outer Space has been called a contender for the worst film ever made, it was actually Ed Wood, Jr himself who won the Golden Turkey award posthumously for being the worst director ever. Wood's movies are noted for technical errors, unsophisticated special effects, idiosyncratic dialogue, eccentric casts, and outlandish plot elements.

Plan 9 from Outer Space is full of goofs, some big, some small. Those mistakes that are most noted by viewers start with the opening dialogue in which narrator Criswell says "Future events such as these will affect you in the future" and then goes on to state that the story has already "happened on that fateful day". Shortly thereafter, two pilots notice some flying saucers. At one point, the shadow of a boom mike can be seen passing over the top of the screen, and the strings on the flying saucers are clearly visible. Viewers have complained that the headstones in the graveyard appear to be made of some lightweight material like cardboard or Styrofoam, as they sometimes wobble when someone walks by. In one case, a cross on the right side of the screen even topples over. The scene where Inspector Clay [Tor Johnson] rises from his grave starts with a teeny tiny gravestone and ends with a much larger one. Viewers laugh at attempts to hide Tom Mason standing in for Bela Lugosi by covering his face with his cape. In the scene where the policeman is shooting the old man, Mason's cape starts to fall off, and he can be seen quickly pulling it back over his shoulders. Also of note is how night and day shots are constantly interspersed within the same scene. For example, a saucer begins to land during the daylight, the landing is shown during a night shot with stars in the sky, and then it is suddenly daylight again. Viewers have counted as many as nine switches between night and day in the scenes where the old man's corpse chases Paula Trent [Mona McKinnon] through the cemetery.

Vampira, born 1922 as Maila Syrjäniemi in Finland (she later changed her name to Maila Nurmi), became noted for her 17 inch waist and her pioneering role as a TV horror movie hostess during the mid-1950s. Inspired by Morticia Addams from the New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams, pale-skinned and black-haired Vampira, dressed in a tight black dress, led viewers through a hallway of mist and cobwebs while spouting graveyard puns and introducing the movie to follow. In 1954, she was nominated for an Emmy award as "Most Outstanding Female Personality" on TV. Because she retained the rights to the Vampira character even after the series ended, Nurmi attempted (unsuccessfully) to sue Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, because she felt the Elvira character was too similar to that of Vampira. Nurmi died of natural causes on 10 January, 2008 at age 85.

Yes.Grave Robbers from Outer Space is in production, set for release in October 2009. The film is an updated retelling of the original premise in a modern setting with more developed characters. It is slated for a Halloween 2009 release date.