Plan 9 from Outer Space

by Katharine Coldiron

Plan 9 from Outer Space has been called the worst movie of all time. Studying such a film would seem needless, more painful than profitable. Katharine Coldiron takes the plunge anyway, and discovers, in the world of bad film, creative insight and practical lessons on how to make good art. She also breaks down, scene by scene, exactly how incompetent Plan 9 is. Full of good humor and backed by thousands of hours of research, this book offers a new perspective on how bad art fits into a well-rounded film education.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Ilana]

A marvelous, deeply satisfying, hilarious, and brilliant work of criticism that I want to write more about elsewhere.

[Andrew]

Eminently entertaining and enlightening. Coldiron delivers exactly the kind of monograph I love: Instead of getting lost in formal or production minutiae, she uses the film as a means to examine a larger issue. In this case: Why Bad Movies are important, and what they can teach us about Good Movies. On the other hand. she does this without losing sight of her essential affection for Plan 9 as a disasterpiece object and genuine work of (failed) pop art. Good stuff, and essential reading for devotees of the terrible.

[Vultural]

Coldiron, Katharine - Plan 9 From Outer Space

Excellent, in-depth analysis of a bad film, ridiculed, scorned, yet regarded fondly.
Scene by scene, Coldiron breaks down poor scenes, incompetent dialogue, amateurish mistakes.
Ed Wood desperately wanted to make films, but he simply did not have the chops.
Time and again, the author points out where Wood could easily have salvaged a scene. But no.
For all that, she enjoys watching this film, and others from this director.
She has no use for Hollywood formula, tentpoles, white bread, similar to my own tastes.
One point struck me, Plan 9 has NEVER been shown in Wood’s intended aspect ratio, which would have cropped boom mics, tops of sets, other errors.
An enjoyable read for those who have a taste for “bad cinema”, and delight in being surprised.
Note: scores and ratings shouldn't really apply for anything related to Mr. Wood.

[Paul Barnes]

[Electric Dreamhouse] (2021). HB/DJ. 1/1. 109/300. Signed. 97 Pages. Purchased from Cold Tonnage Books.

The author’s preoccupied with the simple notion that “…bad film is profoundly instructive in the ways of good film…”

This trite observation would pass without comment if it wasn’t repeated ad nauseam and aggrandised to the pedestal of a “thesis”.

This is a terrible, unfunny, hollow book about an amusingly bad film.

[Peter Landau]

The thesis is that you can learn about what makes a movie good by studying bad movies. The author makes a good point but she had me at Plan 9 From Outer Space, a film that transcends description.