10 Failed Movies That Only Found Their Audience On TV
4. Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)
It may seem wrong to include The Worst Film Of All Time on a list of beloved movies, but no picture owes its popularity to television as much as this bewildering mishmash. Shot in 1956, Ed Woods masterpiece sat unreleased for three years until a distributor placed it on the bottom half of a double bill with Time Lock, a British thriller notable for an early appearance by Sean Connery. Becoming a staple of late night TV, the picture came to the attention of Stephen King (who called it the worst horror film ever made) as well as Harry and Michael Medved, whose book The Golden Turkey Awards elevated Wood from obscurity to the lofty position of The Worst Director Of All Time. Structured around footage of Bela Lugosi shot before the actor passed away, Plan 9 tells the story of pompous aliens who resurrect the dead in order to destroy humanity before it can discover Solaranite, a means of exploding sunlight. With Lugosi, wrestler Tor Johnson and TV host Vampira under their command, the aliens plot is curtailed when their space ship catches fire, turns into a flying hubcap and explodes. The End.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
