[Film poster for Plan 9. Source: Safari search.]

Visits? That would indicate visitors.

~~Air Force officer

And remember, my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the future.

~~Criswell

I can not tell you how much I love the film, Plan 9 From Outer Space. It has all the hallmarks of classic cinema. Where else can you see Vampira and her famous cleavage in the same movie as Bela Lugosi?

Cinephiles may complain about the cardboard tombstones that wobble when an actor brushes past. Or the lack of continuity between day and night in the same scene. But, hey, what’s the absence of logic plot development between friends?

Or the shower curtain in the cockpit of an Air Force plane.

But I digress.

I won’t bore you, my dear readers, with a synopsis of the plot. This is mainly because…well, there actually isn’t much of a plot to bore you with. Besides, this blog post isn’t really about the film per se. It’s the actor who portrays the Chief of Police who is sent to a cemetery to investigate strange happenings that begin shortly after a flying saucer is spotted over the town. Is it spoiling anything at this point to mention that the said flying saucer bears a very strong resemblance to the hubcap of a Studebaker?

I thought not.

The police inspector is played by the actor, Tor Johnson. He was born Karl Erik Tore Johnson in Brännkyrka, Sweden on May 12, 1903. He was a professional wrestler before he turned to acting. The guy stood 6′ 3″ and tipped the scales at 440 lbs!

[Tor Johnson as a professional wrestler. Source: Safari search.]

Tor may not have been the most accomplished actor in the film, but he certainly commanded every scene he was in. Besides, no one in the cast was much of an actor. The exception, of course, was Bela Lugosi who had legitimate screen creds. Sadly, Lugosi died part way into the filming. But that’s another story for another day and another blog.

Tor used what he had (his physical presence) and as a result of his role as the police inspector, his visage has become iconic. The scene where he rises from the grave is chilling and his facial expression, in later years, was turned into a Halloween mask. Don’t laugh. It was the most popular mask for decades. It may still outsell the famous latex Nixon face and perhaps even the odious Trump mask which was quite prevalent in recent years.

Here is Tor moments after he returns to the living:

[Tor Johnson as Inspector Daniel Clay. Source: Safari search.]

This is the mask that retails for $40+ online:

[Tor’s Halloween mask. Source: Safari search.]

I can say one thing. If some twelve-year-old stood on my porch wearing this creation, I’d give him or her as many over-priced Kit Kat bars as their collection bag could hold.

It’s pretty scary.

Plan 9 was released on July 22, 1959, probably to scathing reviews. The director, Ed Wood, likely expected something more from those viscous critics, but in truth, he inadvertently made what has become a cult classic. The film’s budget was $60,000 (try making a movie of your pet papillon sitting in your backyard for that kind of money).

Ed Wood was a interesting man. He directed a number of films that deal with rather touchy topics (for the day) such as cross-dressing and low-budged horror. His Glen or Glenda, Jail Bait and Night of the Ghouls are all cult films. A quick internet search done as I was writing this post revealed something I did not know. The above mentioned $60,000 budget for Plan 9 was partially funded by a local Baptist church.

Now there’s a story.