1999 film

I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
Directed by	Aris Iliopulos
Written by	Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Produced by	Chris Hanley Billy Zane
Starring	Billy Zane Ron Perlman Tippi Hedren Andrew McCarthy Will Patton Nicollette Sheridan
Cinematography	Michael F. Barrow
Edited by	Dody Dorn
Music by	Larry Groupé
Distributed by	Cinequanon Pictures International, Inc.
Release date	September 10, 1999
Running time	90 min.
Country
Language	English

I Woke Up Early The Day I Died (1998) is a 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.

Billy Zane's unnamed character drugs a nurse at the Casa de la Loco Sanitarium and, disguised in her clothes, escapes. After stealing new clothes, he robs a loan service but promptly loses the money at a funeral attended by eccentric mourners. He then sets off to track down everyone present at the funeral in an attempt to find his cash, killing anyone who gets in his way.

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
• Lord Hienrich 'Binky' Alcoa III as Shopkeeper
• Leif Garret as Cruiser Cop #4
• Dana Gould as Carnival Barker
• Michael G. Hagerty as Flop House Manager
• 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 Thomas as Boy at Beach
• Steven Weber as Policeman in Alley
• Kathleen O'Hara Wood as Woman at Carnival

The film was panned by fans and critics alike, achieving a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many criticized Iliopulos's failure to recreate Wood's innocent ineptitude at film making, including Entertainment Weekly, which said the movie "never truly finds a way to evoke [Wood's] fractured hard-boiled syntax, his inimitable idiocy".^[3]

• The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1996), documentary film directed by Brett Thompson
• Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstacy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992) ISBN 978-0922915248

• Edward D. Wood, Jr. filmography