First Great Good/Bad Movies Ever Made

GLEN OR GLENDA (1953) and PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE (1956) 

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Glen or Glenda" and "Plan Nine from Outer Space" are the quintessential Ed Wood movies - seemingly empty, stupid and, above all, hilariously bad. Ed Wood, the director, made the films on excessively low-budgets and it shows. For example, with "Plan Nine," the lighting is poor and inconsistent (as it was in most of his flicks), there are continuity problems throughout (night and day settings mix interchangably), the acting is nonexistent, and the sets and dialogue are probably as threadbare and absurd as you might expect from a grade-Z flick (check out those paper plates masquerading as flying saucers). And the movie is so bad (and proud of it, too) that it works and is worth seeing because it is never boring. The humor though unintentional brings it a certain charm that makes most of the tepid monster/sci-fi flicks of the time unwatchable.


This was Bela Lugosi's last role yet what we see are remnants of a performance - he cries at a funeral for Vampira (!) and is seen traipsing through a forest area with a black cape in what looks like a remake of Dracula. These are outtakes hilariously repeated throughout the film, and to bridge the gap for the missing scenes, Ed hired a chiropractor to play Bela's role wearing a cape which he covers his mouth with! These feeble attempts at fashioning a film around a film star's death is not unlike the similarly assembled footage of Bruce Lee in "Game of Death."


Whether or not Ed intended this film to be as bad as it is, or to be recognized as it is now (the worst film ever made) is besides the point, it has gained cult status and has even been made into a Broadway musical and inspired a sequel! The movie is famous enough to have driven director Tim Burton to make a fabulous film about the man himself. "Plan Nine" is the kind of movie where listening to the dialogue makes it a sheerly pleasurable experience (though the finale where an alien makes a speech about how we, the puny humans "are stupid, stupid, stupid" actually is actually smartly written). 


And how can one forget the idiocy and sheerly hysterical innuendoes of "Glen or Glenda" (1953), a truly bad film but far funnier than "Plan Nine." The film purports to be an essay on the issues and myths of transvestism of the 1950's (originally the film was to be based on the headlined Christine Jorgensen story of that time). Ed Wood plays a man who harbors a fetish for angora and for women's clothing. His girlfriend (Dolores Fuller) is unaware of his behavior but grows suspicious. And to top it all off, we have buffalo roaming the countryside in some shots, inexplicable scenes of steel factories with voice-over narration, discussions on sexual orientation, endless dream sequences, Ed dressed in various styles of women's clothes, Bela Lugosi as a demon or devil (or as himself possibly) watching over all the denizens of the city of L.A. making remarks such as "Watch out for the little dragon that sits at your doorstep. He eats little boys. Puppy dog tails, and big fat snails! Bevare! Take care!"


None of it makes a lick of sense, but it is a hoot and a half to watch it and you'll admire Ed for making a very personal film in a time when such topics were considered taboo. A classic, in every sense of the word. Watch it with the lights out! 


I have not seen all of Ed Wood's flicks but I do admire the man's passion (and penchant for single takes, something even John Huston was known for). Ed Wood's movies will last whereas purely bad cinematic turds like "Robot Monster" won't.