Want to remake the worst movie ever made? Plan 709 from Outer Space is calling
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Mike Fardy, left, and Elling Lien are behind a new film challenge for movie buffs in Newfoundland and Labrador: to collaboratively remake the cult classic Plan 9 From Outer Space. (Heather Barrett/CBC)
A notoriously awful science fiction film from classic Hollywood director Ed Wood is now the subject of a new challenge from the organizers behind the Nickel Independent Film Festival.
The 1957 movie Plan 9 from Outer Space is inspiring the production of Plan 709 from Outer Space, a collaborative film project that anyone can sign up for.
"People appreciate it in a special way," said organizer Elling Lien of the original movie. "People have called it the worst film ever made."
Wood's science fiction flop eventually became a cult classic, inspiring the 1994 Oscar-winning movie Ed Wood, which is about its production. Actor Martin Landau won an Academy Award for playing Bela Lugosi, the former horror star who appeared in Plan 9.
The original film stars altruistic aliens trying to stop humanity from creating a doomsday weapon that threatens to wipe out Earth's existence. "Plan 9" is their strategy: reviving masses of zombie soldiers to scare living humans into heeding their warning.
It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be done. - Mike Fardy
Starting Saturday, amateur filmmakers around Newfoundland and Labrador can begin signing up for clips from the movie, which they'll then reimagine, act out and film — in whatever format they wish.
The clips, from makers across the province, will be spliced back together as a patchwork remake of the entire film.
The 1957 movie has often been called the worst film ever made. (Distributors Corporation of America/Wikimedia Commons)
Lien encourages creativity here. The more absurd, the better. He envisions the final remake as "a joyful collage of wild reinterpretations," he said.
Like with the film festival's other movie-making challenges, Plan 709 is "about just jumping into film head first and just doing whatever you can," said co-organizer Mike Fardy.
"It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be done."
Assigned clips, ranging from 30 seconds to five minutes, will have a rolling weekly deadline. The pair hope to have the final remake edited in time to showcase it at the Nickel festival at the end of June.
For the organizers, it's the perfect movie to have a bit of fun with.
"It's a real joy — it's one of these movies that are so bad it's good.… Anybody who's thinking they don't have what it takes to make movies can watch that and think, 'I think I can,'" said Fardy.
"The great thing about this one is, you can't really make it worse."
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