The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr.

Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr., The (1996)

**** (out of 4)

Wonderful documentary about the life and times of the legendary and infamous director of various "Z" films including Glen or Glenda?, Bride of the Monster and the notorious Plan 9 From Outer Space. This documentary features interviews with various people who worked with Wood including Vampira, Dolores Fuller, Paul Marco, Conrad Brooks, Loretta King, Norma McCarty, Reverend Lynn Lemon, Lyle Talbot and Harry Thomas. Bela Lugosi, Jr. started a storm of controversy with his rather stupid comments here where he calls Wood a "loser and a user". This might not be too bad if Lugosi, Jr. even knew a single thing or had seen any of these films. Several horror historians who have interviewed Lugosi Jr. have stated that he has seen and knows very little work of his father's so to make certain comments like he does here was very stupid but he did end up taking them back. The documentary does a great job at telling us everything we need to know about the director including stuff about his early life and his days during WW2 where he actually fought in some of the most brutal battles of the war. The history and behind the scenes look at his infamous horror movies is certainly the highlight here as we get all sorts of great stories about how these films were made and we also get a lot of rumors laid to rest. The film runs nearly 2-hours but it never gets boring and it really does a great job at showing this man, although the film doesn't go into much of his late 60's, early 70's work in the adult industry.