I Woke Up Early The Day I Died

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I Woke Up Early The Day I Died is a 1998 camp comedy film written by Edward D. Wood, Jr.. The film, directed by Aris Iliopulos, stars Billy Zane, Tippi Hedren, Ron Perlman, and Christina Ricci, among many others.

The movie, produced two decades after Edward D. Wood Jr.'s death, was aimed at being a tribute to him. Wood was awarded a posthumous Golden Turkey Award for being The Worst Director Of All Time ^[1], and has since gained a cult following. The producers of this film used many techniques that Wood himself would use, such as including stock footage to save filming expenses^[2]. The cast was made up of a huge list of actors, including several who were previously associated with Wood's films.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reaction
4 References

[edit] Plot

Billy Zane's character, a cross-dresser, escapes from Casa de la Loco Sanitarium and obtains some money, which he then loses at a funeral attended by eccentric mourners. He then sets off to kill everyone who was present at the funeral.

[edit] Cast

Note, this is only a partial listing of the many cast members in this movie.

Billy Zane as The Thief
Sandra Bernhard as Sandy Sands
Bud Cort as Shopkeeper (as Lord Hienrich 'Binky' Alcoa III)
Leif Garrett as Cruiser Cop #4 (as Leif Garret)
Dana Gould as Carnival Barker
Mike Hagerty as Flop House Manager (as Michael G. Hagerty)
Tippi Hedren as Maylinda Austed
Eartha Kitt as Herself
Maila Nurmi as Woman in Hotel Lobby
Will Patton as Preacher
Ron Perlman as Cemetery Caretaker
Rain Phoenix as Bartender#1
Summer Phoenix as Bartender#2 / Girl at the Beach
Tara Reid as Prom Queen / Nightclub Bartender
Christina Ricci as Teenage Hooker
John Ritter as Robert Forrest
Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Boy at Beach
Steven Weber as Policeman in Alley
Kathy Wood as Woman at Carnival (as Kathleen O'Hara Wood)

[edit] Reaction

The film was panned by fans and critics alike, achieving a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many criticised Iliopulos's failure to recreate Wood's innocent ineptitude at film making, including Entertainment Weekly, who said the movie "never truly finds a way to evoke [Wood's] fractured hard-boiled syntax, his inimitable idiocy"^[3].