Ed Wood: Look Back in Angora

Ed Wood: Look Back in Angora is an interesting look into the world, work, and associations of Ed Wood, the director, the screenwriter, the cross-dresser, and the man. It is done in a very humorous way with anecdotes, archival footage, and interviews with people that knew and worked with Wood like Delores Fuller, Conrad Brooks, Stephen C. Apostolof(director of that awful film Orgy of the Dead), and his wife Kathy. You will get the opportunity to see clips of Wood as a cowboy as well as some other stuff you just won't see anywhere else. The documentary is also filled with many neat little facts about Wood's life and work too. It is mainly a piece of camp rather than a scholarly look into the work of Wood. I really liked how the narrative was pieced together as something told by Ed Wood himself through clips of his films and Wood quotations. Very innovative. Although full of laughs and guffaws, the end result is one of sadness as Wood became a bloated porno actor/writer with not a cent to his name nor a shred of dignity left. It really would have been nice to see Ed Wood enjoy the success he now enjoys posthumously.

Ed Wood is a movie director whose films I don't want to watch very often nor rate very high but whom I still admire. His relentless quest of making movies with no budget, and being a weird individual in general has mythical appeal. I think his posthumous fame is slowly growing, and for some he's become some sort of icon of daring to do what you love even if everybody else thinks you're a fool.

This documentary looks back at the making of some of his movies, and some people that were close to the director are interviewed. The overall composition of the documentary is as crazy as Wood's films themselves. It's partly chronological but not entirely, there are clips from different movies here and there, and complete with crazy narration. It feels a bit disjointed and not very thorough when talking about individual films. But the interviews give more flesh around the bone and makes it all worth.

Recommended. But don't forget to watch Tim Burton's great "Ed Wood" movie too, which is an even better tribute to the director.

ED WOOD: LOOK BACK IN ANGORA (1994)

*** (out of four)

A somewhat interesting documentary about Ed Wood, the man and his movies. Features interviews with Dolorus Fuller, Kathy Wood and Conrad Brooks and tells Wood's story using clips from his movies. Director Ted Newsom has several other documentaries out there, including 100 YEARS OF HORRORS and to his credit, this was one of the first Wood documents. With that in mind, the film has been passed in quality by future documentaries like THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EDWARD D. WOOD, JR., which runs double the time and features more interviews. If you're a fan of Wood then this film is a good introduction but for better stories check out the other doc.

Was available through Rhino on DVD but it's now out of print.

'So bad it's good' - this has now become an official category of cult-movie, as reflected in the Golden Turkey Awards, reflecting an enduring public appetite for the flawed and the rejected, the offcuts fit for the bin. It is the consolation prize at a kindergarden sports day.

Around 1950, two almost-bankrupt Hollywood figures decide to lean on each other for support. One is the legendary Dracula star Bela Lugosi, who has been on the slide for half his career, brought low by multiple divorces, morphine addiction, and a strong accent that has cruelly limited his range. The other is a struggling young producer Ed Wood, trying to score hits on comically low budgets.

Half the time, he relies on economy alone, as in his westerns, largely padded-out with stock footage. For the other half, he is counting on shock, reflected in 'Jail Bait' and 'Bride of the Monster'. Unfortunately 'Grave Robbers from Outer Space' was going too far for the church elder who had agreed to finance the picture, so it had to be 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' instead. This is symptomatic of the surreal atmosphere in which he lived and worked, so the story of his films is largely the story of him.

The reference to Angora in the title relates to his own fetish for that soft material, which his mother (who had wanted a daughter) dressed him in as a child, and which he still wore on active service in the Pacific - if his claims are to be believed. A fellow-marine is brought on, apparently for no other reason than to back-up his story, so his war record remains as dubious as most historians have judged it.

You might not expect such a mixed-up fetishist to be happily married, but he managed to hold on to the shapely Kathy O'Hara for almost twenty years till his death, a helpless alcoholic, evicted from his home and dossing-down in the pits of L.A. He would be flattered to have watched this film, but probably envious at what a handsome budget they had managed to assemble for what is essentially a re-run of his own efforts from the bottom rungs of Poverty Row.

I highly recommend this made-for-video Rhino documentary about the departed Ed Wood! If you have never seen any Ed Wood films or are wondering, "What's so great about this guy?", rent or buy this! It's a harmless inexpensive way to sample his works (from "Crossroads Avenger" to "Love Feast") and learn about what made him tick. Includes interviews with Wood starlet Dolores Fuller, Wood extra Conrad Brooks (who currently overrates his involvement in Wood's films), Wood's last wife Kathy Wood, and other acquaintances of Wood to paint a firm picture of the man behind the camera. Unfortunately, no footage of Wood's newly discovered gem "Night of the Ghouls" is shown (even though Rhino released it!) and some great public domain footage (mainly of transvestites) is never credited! Other than that, the narration is nice and campy, the clips frequent and brimming with Ed Wood magic, and the interviews informative and downright poignant. Check this out, you will either be further drawn into the bizarre cinema of Edward D. Wood, Jr. or alienate yourself from it.