So begins the worst movie in the history of film – Plan 9 From Outer Space. As a writing exercise, would anyone be interested in starting a thread to re-write this gem? The script is freely available. I would be interested to see if everyone put their heads together and attempted it, if we could actually make something good out of something so beautifully awful.
Just a thought. Or would this be too tasteless? I think it would be within fair use rules to try it. I don’t think we could re-print the script here, but we could link to it and post a re-write where each person leaves off.
(Edit)
We could also keep the dialogue the same, but fill in the blanks between the script, and put the dialogue into a deeper context through internal dialogue between the characters.
Well, it’s not just the writing that made it bad, was it? It was also the hand of Ed Wood, making that initial scene with Bela Lugosi then replacing him with that other guy who looked nothing like him; the emphasis on the Tor and Vampira personas, rather than any actual character-building; the guard playing with the gun, the headstones that flap in the wind… If you remove Ed Wood and make it, say, a Roger Corman, it just becomes an average SciFi film of the time.
Meaning, it’s an interesting exercise, and I’d say go for it because I’m all for these things, but it’s not just the script that made it what it is, it’s the particular hand of Ed Wood. Just by removing that, along with a bunch of his editorial decisions and tastes, would go a long way towards making the film better.
True enough. I’ve been thinking about it more, and I don’t want to cause any copyright trouble for reprinting the script. The dialogue itself is so damn funny, though, that if the context was changed it could lead to some interesting inner dialogue.
Anyway, it’s probably better to do something original. I liked the idea of choosing something iconic, and something that had a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Anyway – how about something original, a movie that Ed Wood would have done, using the same actors. And, write in the terrible decisions that Ed Wood would have made.
How about:
Lobo, Supernatural Detective
Where Tor Johnson tries to be Phillip Marlowe, in a movie that would have been the precursor to the Ghostbusters, but much, much stupider.
You know, I think I’d LOVE seeing an Ed Wood style IF. 
Incidently, you sound like you might enjoy the MST3K IF treatment of Detective. 
I checked that out – it’s hilarious! I love MST3K. I’ve picked up the rifftrax to a lot of recent movies that I couldn’t bring myself to watch without the rifftrax.
Yeah – that’s why I was thinking of going for something original, because once the thread is finished, it could be converted to IF.
Anyway, a premise:
How about, Vampira enters Lobo’s office. She feels bad about the events in Plan 9, and wants to make up for it. She’s claiming that the undead are starting to stir, again, and that there might be a Plan 10 just beginning. Lobo wants to help, but because he uses silver bullets for his gun, his cost is high. Vampira, unfortunately, is broke. So, the first act of the movie is Lobo putting guys in wrestling moves that owe him money, so he can get the funds together for enough silver bullets to stop Plan 10.
(Edit)
Okay… I opened a new thread for this project in the collaboration section. I figure it’s better, since the subject line probably makes people think this is one big ■■■■■■ ad. Here’s the link to the thread:
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=11567