The 'Wood spooks,'they've been called, and they were immortalized in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994). Sure, most of the attention rightfully goes to Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Vampira, Bunny Breckinridge, and Criswell. In a way, Plan 9 is as densely packed with colorful and bizarre characters as Star Wars (1977). And I did start noticing something in the movie, namely its many eccentric and memorable but brief supporting performances. But I got caught up in the film's sci-fi-meets-gothic-horror plot all the same.

Was there more in this film that I had missed? Something that had been hiding in plain sight the whole time, like the reused lightning? I watched it with my finger hovering over the pause button.Īlas, I didn't make any great finds of my own in this cinematic snipe hunt. Same lightning effect, different aspect ratio.Ĭorey's incredible discovery led me, for the umpteenth time, back to Plan 9 from Outer Space. Lightning effect in Plan 9 from Outer Space.Īnd here are two screenshots from Young Frankenstein: Here are two screenshots from Plan 9 from Outer Space: Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964).Ĭorey even helpfully provided side-by-side photos for comparison.

It reminded me of how the same stock footage of military planes shows up in both Dr. These two films were released a decade and a half apart and are miles away from each other in terms of production value, commercial success, and critical reputation, and yet they contain some of the exact same material. Recently, in a Facebook forum devoted to Ed Wood and his films, a sharp-eyed fan named Corey Recko made a brilliant observation: the same stock footage of lightning that shows up during the opening credits of Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space(1959) is also used in Mel Brooks' horror comedy Young Frankenstein (1974).

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