"Plan 9 From Outer Space"

San Diego, California. The capper of my recent weekend at Comic-Con 2008 was a screening of Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space – perhaps the most idiotic movie ever made – with an uproarious live commentary by the RiffTrax crew, famous from Mystery Science Theater 3000. The trio sat onstage, to the side of the screen, and played hilariously off each other as we watched the film (now colorized wonderfully by Legend Films).

RiffTrax comedians Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett normally provide commentaries by online download, which are ingeniously synced up by computer to dozens of famous movies one can rent. But a live performance by this talented gang had the audience laughing so hard that I thought the roof of the recently restored Balboa Theater might come down.

Plan 9 From Outer Space, also the subject of Tim Burton’s film, Ed Wood, was Bela Legosi’s last film – he OD’d from heroin during the shooting – and Bela’s character was then played by other actors walking around with a cape held ridiculously over the lower part of their face. Plan 9′s story involves over-acting aliens who plot to take over the Earth by raising the dead as zombies (Tor Johnson and “Vampira”) who do their bidding. Everything is SO bad – story, dialogue, acting, sets, special effects, the works – that the film is quite funny to watch just on its own, and has attracted a large cult following. But add in three wildly talented comics commenting along with the utterly inane action, the result knocks the laugh meter off its hinges. My sides hurt long before the film was over.

Head RiffTracker Mike Nelson says the group plans future live performances to be announced on their website. If RiffTrax comes live to your city and you need a major good a laugh, run – don’t walk.