Plan 9 From Outer Space vs. Manos: The Hands of Fate
“Plan 9 From Outer Space” and “Manos: The Hands of Fate” have huge cult followings and often fight for the title of “Worst Movie Ever”. Here, we compare and contrast to decide which really is the worst movie ever made.
Both movies were written and directed by just one person. “Plan 9″ by Ed Wood Jr. – an optimistic, self-taught filmmaker, and “Manos” by Harold P. Warren – a fertilizer salesman who wanted to prove a movie producer that low budget horror was possible without any training or experience.
While both would be classed under the “Horror” banner, neither are particularly terrifying. “Plan 9″ is frankly ridiculous – pathetic aliens throwing tantrums (“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”), hammy acting and meaningless characters completely undermine the message and story that Wood tries to portray. “Manos” on the other hand is 74 minutes of you asking yourself “What? Why? But…” and not getting any answers.
I have a real affection for “Plan 9″. It’s such a charming film. It’s nice and cosy, but as mentioned in our review, its low production values leave an air of uncertainty in the viewer’s mind. It looks and feels like a 1950s B-Movie, but because it’s not quite the full shilling, it leaves you feeling uneasy. Maybe Wood doesn’t deserve praise for this, yet however clumsily this is achieved, the effect is still that of great suspense throughout.
“Manos” was made famous by an episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000“, a show where a man and his robots are held captive and forced to watch bad movies. You can watch it with as thick a pair of irony-goggles as you like, but “Manos” really is punishing. It’s a movie made by somebody who had no idea of how to make one. At least Ed Wood had a basic grasp of film-making.
“Manos” was filmed on cheap 16mm film on a cheap hand-wound camera that couldn’t record sound. It shows. “Plan 9″ at least was filmed on 35mm, and while it was low-budget, it hardly looks penny-squeezingly indie. A stupid story which is wholly over-dubbed, badly lit, grainy and badly-told, “Manos” is a movie where you can’t even say “I see what they tried there” because it’s so unclear what the movie’s objectives are.
“Manos” suffers because Hal Warren is such an abject film-maker. He can’t even point his camera in the right direction – there are so many shots in “Manos” where his subjects are off-centre. Maybe it’s an experimental 1960s approach to cinema, but that’s like saying the Jamaican bobsleigh team in “Cool Runnings” were just trying to subvert the conventions of the sport by coming in last. The writing (credit to Warren again) is just as bad as the direction.
“Plan 9″ has strong, clear direction and purpose. You see what Wood is aiming for. If the signposts are there, you can suspend your disbelief and fill in the blanks yourself. You can see the failures because you know how the movie should be. Because “Manos” lacks purpose and direction, it’s hard to keep up and understand what the hell’s going on.
“Plan 9 From Outer Space” is such an important film from a pop-culture perspective. The cliché of corny 1950s sci-fi with hubcaps on strings began with “Plan 9″. In a perverse way, it’s groundbreaking. Seminal in fact. “Manos”, in its 43 years of existence has made no such impact on popular culture.
It’s quite difficult to compare these movies because they’re so completely different. It’s like comparing socks to cupboards. “Plan 9″ looks like a film that’s been done badly whereas “Manos” is such an abortion that it hardly qualifies as a “motion picture”. If you consider “Manos: The Hands of Fate” to actually be a film, then it’s easily the worst movie of all time. If you don’t consider it to qualify as a movie, then you’re left with “Plan 9 From Outer Space” as apparently being the worst movie of all time. But it’s not. It’s camp and silly and thoroughly entertaining throughout.
So in the end, “Manos: The Hands of Fate” doesn’t even count as a movie, and “Plan 9 From Outer Space” is actually quite good. The search for the worst movie of all time continues…
Manos’s suckieness makes it suck. Plan 9’s suckieness makes it great. How’s that for something deep?
I had to watch Vicky-Christina-Barcelona with the wife the other day. I nominate every damn Woody Allen movie ever made for worst group of movies ever. Only redeeming thing is Scarlett Johansson in a semi-threeway.
I’m glad the comments are at the bottom of the page. Anyone who reads that first comment wouldn’t need to read my article!
Thanks for posting!
[...] trailer with an open mind and prepare for the awesome! I’ve argued previously that “Plan 9” has a brilliant story which was poorly told by Ed Wood Jr.’s inept film-making. Maybe [...]