Blu-ray Review: The BFI Celebrates Ed Wood’s PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE & BRIDE OF THE MONSTER

Edward D. Wood Jr. is often considered the ‘Worst Director of All Time’. That’s a major fallacy. He may not have been the greatest director and his films might have been (more than) a little shonky, but when looked at with an eye that takes into account Wood’s resources – they’re far from terrible. In fact, they have quite a lot of charm to them. 

Wood’s now infamous career was brought to life in Tim Burton’s exceptional 1994 film, Ed Wood – a biopic which lovingly detailed Wood’s relationship with horror icon, Bela Lugosi. An excellent cast and sparkling screenplay make Ed Wood a joy to watch. Johnny Depp excels in the lead role, delivering wide-eyed enthusiasm as the low budget film director. Martin Landau is superb as Lugosi – and deservedly won an Oscar for his role. The film expertly recreates scenes and moments from two of Wood’s best known films – his magnum opus, Plan 9 From Outer Space and Bride Of The Monster. Theses two films have now been given Blu-ray releases by the BFI and the discs make sure that Wood’s films finally get treated with the respect that they (probably) deserve.

Plan 9 From Outer Space sees an alien life-force resurrect the dead in an attempt to save the universe. Sounds pretty straight forward, but this ain’t no normal zombie movie – especially when you consider that the role played by the film’s ‘star’, Bela Lugosi was cobbled together from random footage that was filmed long before production began – he died before cameras officially rolled.  

Bride Of The Monster sees Lugosi play a mad scientist (is there another kind in this type of film?), who is conducting experiments in a secluded old house. A series of disappearances put the police on the case as they struggle to find out what is happening. Oh, and there’s also a giant octopus in there for good measure.

Bride Of The Monster and Plan 9 From Outer Space are very specific movies from a very specific time. They’re (incredibly) low budget, independent films, that capture an era of atomic fear. Wood is playing with certain themes and while he might not have the budget, the scope and the nuance to fully realise them, you see a filmmaker who is working towards a cohesive vision. 

If you’re interested in classic science fiction from the 1950s or you’re curious to understand the fuss about Ed Wood as a filmmaker, then this double-bill release of Plan 9 From Outer Space and Bride Of The Monster is an essential purchase. 

Special Features

Considering that Plan 9 From Outer Space and Bride Of The Monster are cheapie films knocked out in the 1950s and everybody involved in their production is dead, then it’s great that BFI has been able to build such splendid packages around them. 

Both films come with commentaries from David DeCocteau and Ted Newsom. These are relaxed and conversational, two guys who appreciate the films talking about them. The BFI’s William Fowler and Vic Pratt  also deliver a pair of commentaries for the films – and these are also well worth a listen. 

Plan 9 comes with a Mark Kermode introduction, a video essay and 96 minutes worth of old interviews with Ed Wood’s friends and family. This is great stuff. There’s even 5 minutes of interview footage from 1955 which shows Bela Lugosi leaving rehab.

Bride Of The Monster also includes a bizarre 1970s Children’s Film Foundation feature called Kadoyng and an even weirder 1968 experimental short film, White Lite. 

All in all, this is the perfect way to release two bona-fide cult films.