"One is always considered mad when one perfects something that others cannot grasp. . ."
          --from "Bride of the Atom" by Edward D. Wood, Jr.

There are horror films, and then there are HORROR films. Horror films feature spooks and ghouls and nights of the living dead. HORROR films pop up in hours when the waking world sleeps, on second-rate local stations trying to fill time and sell a few commercials for used cars and phone sex. Horror films inspire chills and constant startled gasps. HORROR films can inspire laughter, pity, but in the end a bizarre fascination and twisted respect. Horror films are horrifying; HORROR films are just plain horrible, wacky fun.

In this season of the horrifying and the horrible, of scary film fests in theaters across the nation and on the late late show, let us take a moment to pay our respects to the king of the horrible horror movie, a twisted genius known to the world as Edward D. Wood, Jr. From skin flicks to low-budget sci-fi, from Bela Lugosi to The Amazing Criswell, from Glen or Glenda to the infamous Plan 9 From Outer Space, his career and work fill the shady netherregions of popular culture. His films are truly beyond comparison; they stand in a realm all their own.

How to describe an Ed Wood film? Dialogue that climbs beyond over-the-top. Stock footage from other films inexplicably edited into the print to pad out the movie and bump up the running time. Quick cuts dictated by the use of short "ends" of film reels to save on film stock expenses. Performances by actors you've never heard of and hope to never hear from again. Spacey stares into nothingness, thick Sweedish accents, slinky black dresses...each one a feast for the senses and the funny bone.

If you've never heard of Ed Wood, or if you've heard of him but never taken the time to explore his body of "work," then this Halloween season is the perfect time to get acquainted with the undisputed King of the Z-Movie. For the uninitiated, here's a primer on the best-known works by Wood and the top sources for learning more about the man who has been unofficially dubbed "the worst film director of all time." Most of his films can be found in a good video store, ordered through Internet video dealers, or even caught occassionally on late-night TV.

GLEN OR GLENDA
(a.k.a. I LED TWO LIVES; I CHANGED MY SEX)
April 1953, 67 minutes

Wood's first feature and perhaps most personal work, GLEN OR GLENDA is the story of a man who hides a "dirty" secret: he enjoys wearing women's clothing. A cross-dresser himself, Wood based the script on the story of Christine Jorgenson, one of the first successful sex-change patients. Bela Lugosi, the elderly star of the 1930's horror classic DRACULA, appears in framing segments throughout the film as a surreal puppeteer called "The Spirit," shouting such directives as "Pull de strings! Pull de strings!" at his earthly minions. Lugosi's segments are padded out with inexplicable stock footage of cars driving down the highway and pedestrians walking down the streets of large cities. Ed Wood plays the title role in plenty of makeup and angora sweaters, his favorite material.

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE
(a.k.a. GRAVE ROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE)
July 1959, 79 minutes

The work for which Edward D. Wood, Jr. will be forever famous. It was shot in four to six days and also stars Lugosi (as well as a Hollywood chiropractor who stood in for the screen legend in some scenes shot after Lugosi's death and who spends the entire movie with his face hidden behind a characteristic Lugosi black cape) in addition to the other classic members of Ed Wood's troupe of actors: Criswell the Seer, who can predict the future; Vampira as a shapely zombie; and Sweedish wrestler Tor Johnson as Inspector Clay. While in 1997 George Lucas spends tens of millions of dollars creating characters out of pixels and bytes on computer, in 1959 Ed Wood would put such wasteful spending to shame with his use of Cadillac hubcaps hung from string as "flying saucers."

NIGHT OF THE GHOULS
(a.k.a. REVENGE OF THE DEAD)
1958, 69 minutes

Behind PLAN 9, this movie is the easiest to track down of Wood's masterpieces; it was released as part of an Elvira "Midnight Madness" series of horror videos from Rhino in 1990. Once again Criswell appears, this time to tell "a tale of the Threshold people so astounding that some of you may faint. . .a story of those in the Twilight time. . .Monsters to be pitied, monsters to be despised. . ." Tor Johnson is back once again, co-starring with the sensual and 16-year-old Valda Hansen, the most beautiful and erotic of Wood's several female stars. Filming lasted only two weeks, and the storyline has the usual appearances of zombies, gory monsters, and Tor in spooky makeup. Perfect for some Halloween laughs. Like all Wood films, best watched with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

ED WOOD RESOURCES AND COMMENTARY

LOOK BACK IN ANGORA: THE ED WOOD STORY
1994, Rhino Home Video

This excellent documentary video offers an overview of Wood's life and films, featuring filmed interviews with some of his stars. It's narrated by Gary Owens and is billed as being "unlike any biography you've ever seen!" Unfortunately, it's only 50 minutes long, but you can't have everything. If you have no knowledge of Wood and his opus, this is a great starting point. The video is distributed by Rhino Home Video and should be available at just about any major video sales outlet.

ED WOOD
1994, directed by Tim Burton

Easily Tim Burton's greatest film, ED WOOD is an affectionate and respectful biopic on the life of Wood and his misadventures creating his B-movie masterpieces. Martin Landau snagged a much-deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his brilliant work as the dying Bela Lugosi. Landau captures the dignity of Lugosi as well as the sad decay of his body and mind under the pressures of old age and heroin addiction. The film's comedic highlight comes from Bill Murray as the foppish "Bunny" Breckenridge, part of Wood's stable of actors who does a hilarious job of bluffing his way through a baptism in order to score some quick funds for one of Wood's films. Better than BATMAN, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, and BEETLEJUICE all put together.

The Edward Wood, Jr. Homepage

At the best Ed Wood links site on the Internet, you'll find links to Internet dealers selling Wood videos, posters, T-shirts, and other merchandise. Plus there's a link to the ED WOOD=GOD homepage, which espouses the beliefs and doctrine of a peculiar cult dedicated to true religious worship of Ed Wood as the Lord (with Criswell fittingly cast as Jesus Christ). The photo of Ed Wood dressed in a Christ outfit (taken from one of Wood's actual Christmas cards) must be seen to be believed.

NIGHTMARE OF ECSTASY: THE LIFE AND ART OF EDWARD D.WOOD, JR.
by Rudolph Grey

The screenwriters of Ed Wood based much of their work on this oral biography of Wood as told by Wood himself and through interviews with most of Wood's closest associates and collaborators. NIGHTMARE also features a complete filmography and bibliography of the many soft-core pornographic novels Wood wrote between 1963 and 1978. It's full of great black-and-white photos of Wood directing and behind-the-scenes shots of some of his greatest films. The best existing resource on the life and work of Edward D. Wood, Jr. Every misunderstood genius deserves a biography this good.