CREDIT: DEPPIMPACT.COM
Johnny Depp plays the cross-dressing untalented filmmaker well in Ed Wood.

Bad movies are an entire genre of their own, a world apart from the eyes of mainstream cinema. Something you can enjoy with your smart-alecky friends, the peanut-gallery experience of watching a movie to simply mock it can be incredible amounts of fun. There may be many terrible filmmakers both mainstream and fairly obscure, but none compare to the pioneering of trash like Edward D. Wood Jr. did.

What truly set Wood and his films apart from other terrible films is his enthusiasm; he lacked the moxie, the money and the make-do, but he sure as hell never gave up. His entire catalogue of film — from the oddly progressive cry for acceptance Glen or Glenda to the infamous sci-fi blunder Plan 9 from Outer Space — are highly entertaining to watch, and the knowledge that he truly was trying his best given the circumstances adds a level of warmth to these celluloid disasters. So loved are the works of Ed Wood that a biopic directed by Tim Burton starring Johnny Depp was released to cult popularity, introducing an entire new generation to those films.

I use the word “biopic” very loosely. While Ed Wood the movie is quite excellent and follows the life of the filmmaker loosely enough to be considered biographical, it's full of inaccuracies and embellishments. As much as I love the works of the man, and the (intentionally) good and funny biopic that spawned as a result, the reality is much more depressing.

Probably the most unaddressed problem with Wood was his alcoholism. A condition that's no stranger to some of history's greatest (and, evidently, crappiest) artists, Wood's alcoholism is what drove away his first and second (never seen in the biopic) wife, and was what ultimately killed him.

While fans attribute Wood's transvestitism to the failure of his relationships, it was the love of good drink that killed him. Wood's obscurity is highly understated as well. While the biopic shows Plan 9 opening at a gala premiere, the reality was that it, much like all his other films, were quietly distributed for a small profit and then fully forgotten. Overall, things really were quite dismal for the man, who resorted to shooting nudie flicks and exploitation material later in life to stay afloat until his death. In general, the biopic is mostly glued together from speculation, anecdote and pure fiction.

Don't take this as a reason to skip out on it, however. A classic rags-to... well, still rags, but slightly-better-rags-than-before story, the biopic is still inspiring enough despite the subject matter. If anything, the black-and-white embellishment of Ed Wood as played by Depp still works on its own without needing prior knowledge of the Wood film catalogue.

Ever since the rise of his popularity after being featured in the Golden Turkey Awards, however, it can hardly be said that Wood's films are a failure. Gathering a group of friends to slough through Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Atom and Plan 9 From Outer Space can prove to be a rewarding experience, and a definitely appropriate way to celebrate the legacy of a man who suffered through much for his grandiose visions.