True confession time: I have never actually watched Plan 9 from Outer Space, the legendary worst movie of all time, in its entirety. I’ve seen various scenes here and there over the years, and enjoyed them in all their kitschy glory, but somehow I’ve never been motivated to bump that DVD from the lower reaches of my Netflix queue. I just feel like the real thing could only disappoint me after seeing itsimage rehabilitated about as much as possible in Tim Burton’s brilliant Ed Wood, you know? Besides, I’ve already seen enough of Plan 9 to get as good a sense of its poorly acted, improbably scripted, incompetently shot mise en scène as I’ll ever need.
Or have I? According to io9, some blessed lunatic is remaking Plan 9. I’m tempted to dismiss this as a joke, but filmmaker John Johnson doesn’t seem to be kidding. He claims on the remake’s official site that he wants to create a "character-driven…serious-minded retelling of the original story, paying homage to the spirit of Wood’s film without resorting to camp or parody." I just can’t wait to see what he does with the subtle, nuanced characters of Ghoul Man, Vampire Girl, and Patrolman Larry!
Honestly, I think I sort of have to see this remake if it ever really comes out, just as a measure of recognition for the sheer chutzpah it must have taken Johnson to pull this project together. And if he really does succeed in making a dead-serious, straight-faced Plan 9, that’ll only make it easier to appreciate on a camp level, right? So would any of you have any interest in seeing this thing? Selected highlights (if that’s the right word) from the original disaster are below, to refresh your memory…
No one can watch it all the way through; it is truly the worst movie ever…laughable – but the worst. So don’t beat yourself up over not getting through it – it is not worth watching the whole thing. But that said, an intentionally funny remake could be great.
How will this future event affect me in the future?
For me, bottom line is who has the time? First you’d have to sit through the whole movie first–which I’ve never been able to do. Then you’d have to watch the remake to see how he pulls it off. And I haven’t even been able to make the time to see Michael Clayton or a hundred other worthier films than P9FOS. I love bad campy films as much as the next film geek, but… Good luck to this guy to get anyone other than his buds to watch it.
I’ve watched it all the way through and loved every horrible minute of it.
The closest thing to a remake this movie should get (well got actually) was Tim Burton’s Ed Wood with Johnny Depp back in 1994. Brilliant.
Ok, the remake of The Fly back in the 80′s was brilliant, the sequel? Not so brilliant. Point being, only The Body Snatchers, The Blob, and The Fly were pretty decent remakes, but Plan 9 was a kitchy b-movie to begin with. Unless John Waters directs it and makes the film sillier than the original, I can’t see it doing well.
I am hyped!
A remake is a truly terrible idea. And by the way, to Dan Daoust: great post! lol
I think its due for a remake since it wasnt done right the first time but the story could be made good if the writer is smart about it. From the sound of it we arent looking at hollywood idiots like Mr. Bay doing this film but instead its independent and that is all the better for fans since Ed Wood was a real independent as well. If the guys making it really try to make it a good story and forget about lots of cg work it would have to be worth a watch!!! Also if one of the original actors is in it as a cameo that would be really cool.
He wants to make a “character-driven…serious-minded retelling of the original story, paying homage to the spirit of Wood’s film without resorting to camp or parody”?? EXCUSE ME? The only way to pay homage would to make it even worse that it originally was!! (if that’ possible). And let’s face, ED WOOD was basically the remake anyway.
As bad as Plan 9 is, Glen or Glenda was 100 times worse, I’d call that one the worst movie ever made, either that or Jaws 3D.
well, ill admit it, i am truly looking forward to this movie, i truly love the original, for all its dumbness, and stupidity, its a great film, and johnson, has dont a few good ones thus far… of course, they are all quite campy, lol… so to see him do a serious retelling, i am really looking forward to…
I’ll watch the remake…..
No movies could be as bad as “The Killer Tomatoes”.
Filmfantakenserious wrote “Also if one of the original actors is in it as a cameo that would be really cool.”
Unfortunately most of them are deceased, I think. Conrad Brooks who played one of the cops is still around, but he may be the only one. Vampira died only a few months ago. She was interviewed for the recent documentary “Vampira: The Movie” (http://www.vampirathemovie.com) and talks about the making of “Plan 9.” It’s very interesting!
Sorry, I keep forgetting this thing messes up links. Trying again:
http://vampirathemovie.com/