There’s a sub-genre of film that is rarely talked about, but much loved: the so-bad-it’s-good film. Robot Monster. The Room. Pretty much any dubbed Godzilla film. Amongst them all, the movies of Ed Wood stand above the pack. Horrible special effects, random use of stock footage, tangential dialogue, and odd casting choices are standards in his films. Tim Burton's biopic Ed Wood does an excellent job of showcasing how the auteur worked (and it is frighteningly accurate in comparison to real life events). Wood’s movies are stunningly bad, prompting multiple viewings just to find all the errors. Here are the best of the worst.

RELATED: Why 'Ed Wood' Is Still Tim Burton’s Best Movie

Glen or Glenda (1953)

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Image via Screen Classics

Wood wrote, directed and starred in this, his first film, alongside his girlfriend Dolores Fuller, and two actors that would go on to appear in many of his films: Bela Lugosi and Lyle Talbot. It tells two stories: One about Glen/Glenda (Ed Wood), a transvestite who dresses as a woman behind his fiancée Barbara's (Dolores Fuller) back, and the second about Alan/Anne ('Tommy' Haynes), a pseudohermaphrodite who becomes a woman through surgery. Peppered throughout the film are clips of Lugosi as The Scientist, who is a sort of narrator but not really, offering quips like, "Pull the strings!" and "Beware of the big, green dragon that sits on your doorstep." Yet it's the tender, sweet moment when Barbara hands Glen her angora sweater that really hits home.

Jail Bait (1954)

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Image via Howco Productions

Perhaps Wood’s most normal film, a film noir with a relatively coherent story, and not as riddled with the errant filmmaking that would mark most of his work. Young Don Gregor (Clancy Malone) is lured into a life of crime by gangster Vic Brady (Timothy Farrell). There are robberies, attempted murders, and murders. Brady, feeling the heat, kills Gregor and pins the murders on him. To further elude the police, Brady has Gregor's father Dr. Boris Gregor (Herbert Rawlinson) perform plastic surgery on his face. In the meantime, Dr. Gregor has discovered Brady shot and killed his son. Not betraying his knowledge, Dr. Gregor calmly performs the plastic surgery on Brady... and (SPOILER) makes him look like his son, Don! And since "Don" is the one wanted by police, Brady is arrested. To reiterate: relatively coherent story.

Bride of the Monster (1955)

bride of the monster image
Image via Banner Pictures

Mac (Bud Osborne) and Jake (John Warren) are two hunters, seeking refuge from the rain in old Willows House. Denied entry, a giant octopus kills Mac, while Jake is captured by a giant and brought into a laboratory. The giant, Lobo (Tor Johnson), turns out to be the mute assistant to evil scientist Dr. Eric Vornoff (Bela Lugosi), who tries to turn Jake into an atomic superhuman, only to succeed in killing him. This being the latest in a string of deaths in the area, the police and investigative reporter Janet Lawton (Loretta King) dig around. Janet is then captured by Lobo and brought back to the house, where Vornoff has Lobo take her to his quarters. Janet then reappears, now in a wedding gown, and is strapped down to a table, where Vornoff will turn her into the Bride of the Atom". Lobo, not wanting to see Janet harmed, turns on his master, strapping Vornoff to the table and initiates the procedure. Now an atomic superman, Vornoff throws Lobo against the equipment, electrocuting him. As he tries to escape, Vornoff is knocked into the lake, where he fights his mutated atomic octopus. While fighting, the two are struck by lightning, triggering an atomic explosion that kills them both.

You can't make this stuff up. The best part? The octopus is a large, rubber prop that Lugosi flails about in order to make it seem alive during their battle.

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Malia Nurmi in Plan 9 from Outer Space
Image via Valiant Pictures

Wood’s defining film is full of everything that one expects from the master. UFOs are plates hanging from strings. Stock footage of cars in the daylight switch to the car arriving at its destination at night. Stages that wobble. Props that fall over. Horrible, horrible dialogue.

The story, as it were: An old man (Bela Lugosi) mourning his recently deceased wife, is struck and killed offscreen by a car. At the graveyard, the man is buried in a crypt... while his dead wife watches from afar! UFOs then show up over Hollywood and Washington, bringing aliens that have initiated Plan 9: the reanimation of the dead. This is an attempt to prevent mankind from developing Soloronite, harnessing the rays of the sun and potentially destroying the universe. Dead people walk around, including Inspector Clay (Tor Johnson), whose death prompts the infamous quote from Lt. John Harper (Duke Moore): "But one thing's sure. Inspector Clay is dead, murdered, and somebody's responsible." The aliens are stopped, the UFOs are destroyed, and we are left with the narrator Criswell, playing himself, hoping for God's help in the future.

Night of the Ghouls (1959)

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Image via Wade Williams Distribution Inc.

A sequel… yes, a sequel… to Bride of the Monster, and including characters from Plan 9 from Outer Space. Police investigate the disappearance of two teenagers, which leads them to the old Willows House (from Bride). Lt. Daniel Bradford (Duke Moore) enters the house and is greeted by turban-wearing Dr. Acula (Kenne Duncan). Dr. Acula leads a séance, with Bradford and a number of human skeletons at the table. Bradford has suspicions, though, which are confirmed: Dr. Acula is a con artist by the name of Karl, who is assisted by Sheila (Valda Hansen), who scares away intruders as the White Ghost. Trying to escape from the police, Karl and Sheila go through a hidden room, where they are confronted by a group of the undead, which includes Criswell and Lobo. Apparently, Karl did actually have powers to resurrect the dead, so now they've come to take him. Sheila manages to escape, but runs into the Black Ghost (Jeannie Stevens), who makes her one of the undead. To set our minds at ease, Criswell assures the viewer that both the old and the newly dead have gone back to their graves... but are welcome to join them in death.

The Sinister Urge (1960)

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Image via Headliner Productions

The Sinister Urge is Wood's final legitimate film, his lowest IMDb rated, before heading into softcore pornography films. The film begins on a young blonde woman (Betty Boatner), only in her underwear, desperately trying to escape her assailant. Unsuccessful, she is killed, her body dropped by the lake. At the crime scene, police make note of the woman's age and appearance, and determine the murder is connected to the "smut picture racket". They are correct - there is a pornography organization led by Gloria Henderson (Jean Fontaine) that lures young woman into porn, killing any that try to escape (usually through her underlings Johnny Ryde (Carl Anthony) and Dirk Williams (Dino Fantini). There's stuff about distributing smut photos and 16 mm films to customers, Dirk becoming obsessed and murderous because of porn, Dirk drawing attention to the ring, Dirk and Johnny both get killed, yada yada yada. It's never really clear if Wood is trying to expose the dangers of pornography, or if he's dipping his toes into porn himself.

Orgy of the Dead (1965)

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Image via Crown International Pictures

A film with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Orgy of the Dead is literally a number of ghoulish, topless dancers from beyond the grave, dancing. That's it. Sure, there's a threadbare story: The Emperor (Criswell) demands the dancers please him lest they be eternally damned. And for some reason there's four visitors watching the entire horrific erotica: a werewolf (John Andrews), a mummy (Louis Ojena), and a stranded young couple, Bob (William Bates) and Shirley (Pat Barrington), tied to a pole.

Believe it or not, Wood adapted the screenplay into a novel, which may actually be marginally better than Fifty Shades of Grey.