Ed Wood - Legacy

Legacy

In 1986, in an essay paying homage to Wood in Incredibly Strange Films, Jim Morton writes: "Eccentric and individualistic, Edward D Wood Jr was a man born to film. Lesser men, if forced to make movies under the conditions Wood faced, would have thrown up their hands in defeat."

In the late 1980s/early 1990s, three of Wood's films (Bride of the Monster, The Violent Years, and The Sinister Urge) were featured on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, which gave those works wider exposure. Producers of MST3K considered including Plan 9, but found it had too much dialogue for the show's format.

In 1994, director Tim Burton released the biopic Ed Wood, which starred Johnny Depp in the title role and Martin Landau, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi. It also won an Academy Award for Best Makeup for Rick Baker. The film received mass critical acclaim, but did poorly at the box office. It has since developed a cult following.

In 1996, Reverend Steve Galindo of Seminole, Oklahoma, created a legally recognized religion with Wood as its official savior. Originally founded as a joke, the Church of Ed Wood now boasts over 3,500 baptized followers. Woodites, as Steve's followers are called, celebrate Woodmas on October 10, which is Ed's birthday. Numerous parties and concerts are held worldwide to celebrate Woodmas. On October 4–5, 2003, horror host Mr. Lobo was canonized as the "Patron Saint of late night movie hosts and insomniacs" in the Church of Ed Wood.

In 1997, the University of Southern California began holding an annual Ed Wood Film Festival, in which student teams are challenged to write, film and edit an Ed Wood-inspired short film based on a preassigned theme. Past themes have included Rebel Without a Bra (2004), What's That in Your Pocket? (2005), Slippery When Wet (2006).

In 1998, Wood's previously unfilmed script I Woke Up Early the Day I Died was finally produced, starring Billy Zane and Christina Ricci. Outside of a brief New York theatrical engagement, the film did not receive a commercial release in the United States, and was only available on video in Germany due to contractual difficulties.

In 2001, horror film director and heavy metal musician Rob Zombie released The Sinister Urge, which is named after Wood's film.

In 2005, the Plan 9 cast were lampooned in an episode of the television series, Deadly Cinema; the following year, clips of this episode were featured in the documentary, Vampira: The Movie.

In 2006, MST3K head writer and host Michael J. Nelson recorded an audio commentary track for a DVD release of a colorized version of Plan 9 from Outer Space.

In 2009, Nelson and fellow MST3K alums Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett mocked Plan 9 again in their very first RiffTrax Live event, coinciding with the film's 50th anniversary.