Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The 'Plan 9' Companion

Ask a hundred people what the greatest film of all time is, and you may just get a hundred different answers (personally, my vote is with RoboCop). Ask a hundred people what the worst film of all time is, however, and there's a good chance that most of them will say the one title: Plan 9 From Outer Space. It's all too easy to bash the film and describe how patently awful it is, but Flying Saucers Over Hollywood does something that sets it apart from documentaries about "classic" films: it takes a truly awful subject and treats it with great respect.

When film critics, filmmakers, film school teachers, actors, and anyone else with insight to offer, in this documentary are interviewed, it is clear from the outset that while they appreciate just how many errors and flaws are in Plan 9, they respect Ed Wood for having got the damned thing made. As one interviewee says, the difference between Ed Wood and the people who seriously put him down is that in spite of his total lack of any resources one would consider conducive to filmmaking, he made these films. Not only do we get to see Ed Wood as a filmmaker and the struggles he endured in the process of his work, we also get some insights into the truly bizarre characters who made up his stock company. Getting to see who Vampira, Criswell, and Tor Johnson were outside of Ed's films makes this documentary worth the price of admission by itself.

By far the most amazing part of the documentary, however, is seeing how Plan 9 rose from being a discarded, forgotten piece of B-movie trash to the king of all cult films. Seeing a few samples of the dedicated cadre of followers it has, and hearing what they have to say, is garanteed to put a smile on the face of anyone who loves film. This is how a documentary should be done: with a love of the subject matter, and just a dash of self-deprecating humour. Hats off to the people who got it made.

Watching this movie made me seriously rethink my obsession with Ed Wood. Sure, I think his movies are hilarious(except when he tried to be in the 70's,) but his end was too tragic for me too really enjoy the flicks at face value anymore. Many of the people in this movie have very unhealthy obsessions, so the freak factor practically matches GATES OF HEAVEN (Both in California) when it comes to Ed Wood (I still find it hard to believe that such a fanatically nerdy performance could come from the seemingly at least semi-competent Sam Raimi) To summarize, the movie makes me think "What if actual Trekkies had made TREKKIES?" Note: the movie looks like it was made for public access television.

This film alone was worth the price of the DVD it shares with "Plan 9 from outer space." See the locations used,hear members of Wood's "stock company" talk of him! See Ed Wood actually directing scenes from a Grade Z western!!And,it answers once and for all just what did Ed Wood use for the flying saucers??Who could ask for more?

Plan Nine From Outer Space has been hailed by many as the worst picture ever made. Despite this critical disfavor, it has a huge cult following that led to a revival of interest in the work of Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi, Vampira, Criswell, etc... and perhaps even to the production of Tim Burton's Ed Wood...a homage to the film and its makers. This video chronicles the film's history by looking at the script, the lives of Wood and company in detail, the place the film was made, make-up, and other sundry aspects of its pre-production, production, and post-production. Many of the people in the film are interviewed, and we get first-hand accounts on what is was like to work for Edward D. Wood Jr. I found the video to be very thorough in its purpose, highly entertaining, and most informative. In many ways it is a tribute to Wood himself and his unflinching desire and drive to make movies despite his obvious lack of talent and other shortcomings. If you like movie history and lots of information of the behind-the scenes variety then I strongly recommend The Plan Nine Companion for you.

This is obviously being a low-budget and almost fan-made documentary about Edward D. Wood Jr.'s notorious 'opus magnum' "Plan 9 from Outer Space". It's not an impressive looking or put together documentary by any means but it's being a pretty insightful one, that shares and elaborates on some fun facts.

It's not necessarily a documentary about the making of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" but more one about Wood's entire career, in which "Plan 9 from Outer Space" plays the central role, holding and bringing everything in this documentary together. It's something that works out well but can be deceiving for those who are expecting a documentary purely focused on the making of "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

They managed to get a whole bunch of people in front of the camera, who in one way or the other were involved with "Plan 9 from Outer Space". They share their thoughts and memory of the movie but more so of Ed Wood and those who had passed away already, such as Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson and Criswell. Most of the information is pretty insightful and helps you to learn more about the movie as well as those involved who had passed away already, which also includes Wood himself of course.

This is a fan project, so there are nothing but kind words about him (well, almost entirely) but otherwise this would had most likely been a very depressing documentary, without any fun to it, since Wood's life was far from a happy tale, so I actually don't mind this. It's actually great to see how all these people, after all these years, can speak still so passionately about him and praise him for what he all did and achieved, which might not seem like much but is still quite a big accomplishment all when you look at it objectively. He at least often succeeded to get some big names in his movies and he (almost) always managed to get the movies made in the first place, with basically no money.

His passion and love and devotion to his projects made up for his talent, which just wasn't quite there. It's actually great to see Wood himself directing some scenes for a movie in this documentary. It was just like I always had imagined, he was extremely passionate and committed about it and seemed to be just happy to do it as well. He truly was in his element. There is some more unique footage of Wood himself in this documentary, which was always something I was interested in.

This is being a pretty good and insightful documentary to watch, if you can forgive it for its somewhat amateur like look and feeling at times. But you shouldn't have any problems with that if your interested in "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and Edward D. Wood Jr.!

7/10

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