Monday, June 2, 2014

Plan 9 Remake Deep-Sixes the Laughs

Why in the world would anyone remake Ed Wood's 1959 clunker Plan 9 from Outer Space?

Tomorrow, as part of the Virginia Film Festival Year Round, Charlottesville native John Johnson will explain his motives at a special free screening of his version, titled more simply, Plan 9. The movie was shopped at the recent Cannes Film Festival market and will be released theatrically later this year via Spotlight Pictures:

Director Johnson and his production company Darkstone Entertainment set out to retell the story in a more serious way, creating a character-driven piece that avoids the cringe-worthy camp that dominated the original film, and replaces it with a sincere celebration of horror and science-fiction.



As Johnson recently told alt-weekly C-Ville, his version is both a love letter to the relentless filmmaking spirit of Wood and a what-if exploration of how the film might have turned out if the original director had been gifted with more time and resources.

The cast includes Mike Christopher (Dawn of the Dead), Brian Krause (Sleepwalkers), Addie Miller (The Walking Dead) and the last surviving member of the original movie's cast, Conrad Brooks. Another screening of the film was held earlier this year at Austin's Alamo Drafthouse.

[Darkstone Entertainment]

Previously on FilmStew:
Last Surviving Plan 9 Actor Enlivens DC Noir

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