Ed Wood

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Catching Up

It may bowl some people over, but this has gone for years being one of the very few Tim Burton films that I hadn't seen before. Though I have no idea how I have avoided it for so long. Regardless of the fact that it was nominated for several awards, the subject material is right up my alley these day.

'Ed Wood' is the story about, well, Ed Wood - widely known as the worst director in cinematic history with such titles as 'Glen of Glenda', 'Bride of the Monster' and the historical 'Plan 9 from Outer Space'. It has since arguably been dethroned, but 'Plan 9' was once know as the worst film of all time. Since then we've had movies like 'The Room', 'Troll 2', and 'Manos; The Hands of Fate' that, for some, hold that title over it. Anyway, it largely has to do with Ed (Johnny Depp) and his friendship with Universal horror legend, Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau). Ed seems to be the only person in Hollywood who recalls Lugosi's horror roles with such fondness. It's so rough that a lot of people just think that Bela has since died. Ed therefore chooses Lugosi to act in his films, as he needs a big name.

The rest of the film covers his ups and downs within both his personal life and his career. It starts with the production of a film about a man who wants a sex change ('Glen or Glenda') and ends with his legendary 'Plan 9'. This pretty much covers the span of the 1950s, give or take a year or two.

The film is pretty star-studded, including names like Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette and Jeffery Jones, not to mention a killer performance from Vincent D'Onofrio as Orson Welles. There's probably not a lot I can say about it that hasn't been said before, but the real question is "does it hold up?"

The answer is an emphatic "yes!" In fact, in many respects, it might hod up now better than ever. We live in an interesting age where cult horror movies seem to be sought out by a wider audience. This movie, in particular, takes you back to a time when horror cinema was basically just goofy, what we would call a B-movie. So needless to say, it's a lot of fun to watch what went on behind the scenes for some of this stuff.

I had to hand it to pretty much everyone here with their roles, namely Depp and Landau. I'm not sure how close the story gets to the truth of it all, but it's a pretty touching story to watch. I mean, imagine you're a legend of the silver screen, known as the one and only Dracula. One day everyone just kinda forgets about you, so you miss the spotlight. Then the one guy who believes in you comes along to give you another chance. The nicest thing about it was that Bela never seemed to regret these being his last films. He was just happy to be there, and be recognized.

I'm glad that I finally managed to see this, and I can understand why it's held in such high regard as one of Tim Burton's best, if not his best. I'd recommend it to anyone who takes an interest in classic cinema.

5/5

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