Subject: REVIEW: ED WOOD

From: [email-masked] (David Cowen)
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 1994 13:09:26 GMT

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				  ED WOOD
		       A film review by David Cowen
			Copyright 1994 David Cowen

     Back when I was in high school I used to sit down in the basement
watching TV late at night, hoping I'd find something bizarre or
entertaining to watch.  I'd flip through the channels seeing the same
kind of banal fare typical of late-night TV ... but occasionally,
flipping past PBS, something magical would happen--I'd flip to Glen
or Glenda, Ed Wood's first film about cross-dressing, and spend the
evening laughing and marveling as to where such a goofy piece of
celluloid might come from.  Now, years later I get the answer, in the
form of a brilliantly crafted film by Tim Burton.

     Ed Wood, a struggling studio worker in Hollywood, has bigger
dreams--to write, direct, star in and produce his own film, just like
his idol, Orson Welles.  When Ed finds out a docudrama about
cross-dressing is being made by a B-film company called "Screen
Classics", he phones up the head of the "studio" and tells him that
he's more qualified than anyone in town to make the film.  His
"special" qualification?  Having an affinity for his girlfriend's
angora sweaters.

     Eventually, Ed gets the job, produces Glen or Glenda, and begins
working on a string of horrendously bad pictures (the film examines the
production of two more, the classic BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and PLAN 9
FROM OUTER SPACE) with an amazing amount of vigor and passion for
his ... "art"--never before have I seen such unbridled enthusiasm for
stilted dialogue, cardboard set pieces, and fake octopii.  The film
also explores Wood's friendship with Bela Lugosi, star of DRACULA, as
he tries to make a former screen great a big star again ... even when
that screen great dies before the production of the film.

     Tim Burton could have done a straight biopic, documenting Woods
"fall" into bad monster/nudie films (the abysmal ORGY OF THE DEAD is
a standout), but instead Burton portrays Wood as enthusiastic,
artistic, and full of life--a true believer in his films, as opposed to
just a bored B-movie director.  Wood's enthusiasm is radiated from
Johnny Depp, who with wild-eyes and a big-toothed (yet somewhat
maligned) smile makes even the worst of Wood's dialogue echo with
poignancy--believe it or not.

     The attention to detail is outstanding--I was lucky enough to
catch BRIDE OF THE MONSTER on TV the night before, and except for a
few minor differences, Burton went to a lot of trouble to capture the
look and feel of the movie--and the actors deliver the lines with the
same sort of stuttered bad-acting flair as in the originals.  I felt I
was getting a real look behind the sets.  The entire film feels like it
was directed by Wood himself, with extra-long establishing shots, the
grey-and-white film stock, the lack of music except in points of
highest schmaltz ... and at the theatre I was at, the frequent
projector problems made it all the more realistic--the matte was set
too high, so every time a boom mike got in the shot, there were squeals
of laughter and applause.

     Out of 10: 8.  I haven't had this much fun at a movie in a long
time.  ED WOOD is funny, passionate, and if you've ever seen any of Ed
Wood's work it'll be amazing to see how it was made.  ED WOOD is a
must-see for any self-proclaimed fan of bad cinema, or movies in
general.

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