Playing of the recognition of another movie and trying to “ape” their success can often be a bold move that runs more risks than it does gains. Most of the time it just comes off as a cheap imitation boarding on rip off territory. Some companies like The Asylum have built an entire empire off of producing no budget clones of popular movies with their most recent film Homeward sharing a suspicious amount of similarities to Disney’s Onward. Another Plan From Outer Space on the other hand, is not doing a modern cash grab but is doing a throwback to the similarly named Plan 9 From Outer Space a 50s science fiction movie that has since its release gained a cult classic status. Comparing itself to the title alone the film sets the audience up with high expectations.

The year is 2024 and the Genesis space shuttle is on a return mission from the Mars colony when a solar flare causes it to crash. Awaking from the crash the crew finds themselves in an unforgiving desert with limited resources and the ship’s homing beacon damaged. As the hours pass and chances for survival begin to dwindle emotions begin to rise and one of the crew begins to become agitated and paranoid. To make matters worse some of the crew is beginning to hear things, see things, and wonder if it’s just the heat or something more sinister.

If Another Plan From Outer Space was trying to be a movie in the same vein as or a spiritual successor of Plan 9 From Outer Space it started off on the right foot. A hallmark of Plan 9 is was extremely cheap sets and props, many of which feel recreated in this film. Simple props such as toy space helmets or a plastic storage tub are made futuristic with clever uses of sound effects such as computer voices and electronic noises.

Where the movie blunders and never recovers though is catching the fun and interesting spirit of the 1950s Science fiction movie. Everything starts off well enough with the film in black and white and the goofy props, but becomes bogged down with the same sloppy acting and script as every low budget film. Bad dialogue and boring plots were made charming for films back then because they leaned into the silliness with hammy acting and big performances. Another Plan From Outer Space instead throws in swearing, an overly sexual moment, and an empty, predictable, and frankly insulting ending which culminates in a movie pretending to be something fun based on an actually fun film.

Another Plan From Outer Space had me genuinely excited to see what it had to offer but left me feeling frustrated and bitter. While yes there were slow moments and scenes that just went on and on, there was clearly a fondness for older Scifi. With the end, however, it felt like a complete bait and switch from a director that made an hour and a half farce. I can’t recommend this movie, but I can recommend you go check out Plan 9 From Outer Space, a movie that doesn’t feel like a mean prank.

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3 out of 10