2 vampirous films tonight, all about cult horror actress Maila Nurmi (1922-2008): a documentary about her life, followed by the "worst film ever made", in which she was lucky to star...

VAMPIRA THE MOVIE (2006, documentary, Dir. Kevin Sean Michaels)

If you never saw the Vampira show back in the 1950's you probably wonder why anyone would care about a L.A. horror show host who only lasted about one season, from 1954-1955, with a brief revival on another station that didn't last either. 

Vampira: The Movie chronicles the brief rise and long decline of Maila Nurmi's fame, from becoming an overnight sensation in the mid-50's to someone who retired from show business and was largely forgotten except by punk rockers and horror aficionados. What's really striking about this film is that it illustrates how extensively Vampira illustrated pop culture, despite the relative paucity of her oeuvre. . . .

. . . this film should answer just about every question you ever had about Vampira, Maila Nurmi, and everything she inspired. Director Kevin Sean Michaels has fashioned the ultimate cult film about one of the cult film world's most fascinating figures. It's a fascinating glimpse into the quixotic, decades long making of a cult figure. . . .

• Won Best Independent Production at the 2008 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959, fiction film, Dir. Ed Wood, 79min)

Plan 9 is a 1959 science fiction/horror film written, produced, and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson and Maila "Vampira" Nurmi. The film also claims to posthumously star Bela Lugosi through use of footage of the actor shot by Wood just before Lugosi's death in 1956.

The plot of the film is focused on a race of extraterrestrial beings who are seeking to stop humans from creating a doomsday weapon that would destroy the universe. In the course of doing so, the aliens implement "Plan 9", a scheme to resurrect Earth's dead as zombies to get the planet's attention, causing chaos.

Because of its awkward script, bad acting, unconvincing special effects, and multiple production errors visible in the final version of the film, Plan 9 from Outer Space is often regarded as a leading candidate for the title of "worst movie ever made". It has also earned Wood a posthumous Golden Turkey Award as the worst director ever.