Key Takeaways
- Gayniggers from Outer Space is a 26-minute Danish satirical short film from 1992, directed by performance artist Morten Lindberg (better known as Master Fatman).
- The film parodies both the blaxploitation and low-budget science fiction genres, drawing heavy inspiration from Ed Wood’s infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space.
- Despite its deliberately provocative title and content, the film screened at the NatFilm Festival in Copenhagen (1993) and the Stockholm Queer Film Festival (2006).
- It became a viral internet phenomenon in the 2020s through the “what space movie came out in 1992” meme.
- The director, Morten Lindberg, was a multifaceted Danish cultural figure — comedian, DJ, taxi driver, musician, and self-styled cosmic guru — who passed away in 2019.
What Is Gayniggers from Outer Space?
If you’ve ever searched “what space movie came out in 1992” and found yourself staring at a very unexpected IMDb listing, congratulations — you’ve already encountered this film’s legacy, even if you’ve never watched a single frame of it.
Gayniggers from Outer Space is a 26-minute Danish short film that plays like a fever dream cooked up at the intersection of Ed Wood, John Waters, and a very loose understanding of what constitutes good taste. Directed by Morten Lindberg — a Copenhagen-based performance artist known professionally as Master Fatman — the film was completed in 1992 and first screened publicly at the NatFilm Festival in Copenhagen on February 23, 1993.
The premise is as absurd as the title suggests. A crew of intergalactic homosexual men from the planet Anus, members of the Federation of Gay Planets, discover that Earth is inhabited by both men and women. Horrified by this arrangement, they set about liberating Earth’s male population by eliminating all female creatures with rayguns. The grateful men of Earth celebrate, and before departing, the crew leaves behind a “Gay Ambassador” to guide humanity into its new way of life.
It is, to put it mildly, not for everyone.
The Director: Master Fatman
Understanding this film requires at least a passing familiarity with the man behind it. Morten Mabunda Lindberg (1965–2019) was one of Denmark’s most eccentric cultural figures. Born in Munkebo on the island of Funen, he grew up in Odense before gravitating to Copenhagen’s underground performance art scene.
His stage name, Master Fatman, originated from a 1987 performance in which he claimed to be channeling the spirit of Liberace. From there, Lindberg built a career that defied any single description — he was simultaneously a comedian, taxi driver, disc jockey, magazine editor, political candidate, television host, musician, vegetarian cooking advocate, and self-proclaimed cosmic guru.
In 1993, fresh from traveling in India, he founded “Det Kosmiske Parti” (The Cosmic Party) and ran in Copenhagen’s municipal elections. He nearly won. He competed in the Danish Eurovision Song Contest in 1995. He hosted jazz programs on Danish national radio. He appeared on the Danish version of Dancing with the Stars in 2006.
Gayniggers from Outer Space was his only directorial effort in film. Co-written with Per Kristensen (who also handled the special effects, such as they were), it remains by far his most widely known work — though almost certainly not for the reasons he originally intended.
Lindberg passed away on March 26, 2019, at the age of 53. He was survived by five children.
A Parody of a Parody
The film’s title is itself a joke with multiple layers. It riffs on Grave Robbers from Outer Space, the original working title of Ed Wood’s notorious Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957), widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made. That lineage is intentional — the entire production leans into the same kind of gleeful incompetence that made Ed Wood a cult icon.
Shot on what appears to be a budget that could be counted in pocket change, the film features cardboard sets, a ship computer voiced by what sounds like a Speak & Spell, and special effects that make Plan 9‘s flying saucers-on-strings look like Industrial Light & Magic. The acting ranges from deadpan to gleefully hammy, and the character names — Captain B. Dick, ArmInAss, D. Ildo, Sergeant Shaved Balls, and Mr. Schwul (German for “gay”) — tell you everything about the level of subtlety on offer.
The film begins in black-and-white and transitions to color partway through, mirroring the famous technique from The Wizard of Oz. According to Lindberg, this was a “dramatic special effect” meant to symbolize “the world being freed from vicious women.”
Whether you read that as biting satire or juvenile provocation likely says as much about you as it does about the film.
The Blaxploitation Connection
Beyond the Ed Wood homage, the film is explicitly positioned as a parody of blaxploitation cinema — the wave of 1970s American films that featured predominantly Black casts and were marketed toward Black urban audiences. Films like Shaft (1971), Super Fly (1972), and Blacula (1972) defined the genre, which was itself both celebrated for putting Black actors in leading roles and criticized for leaning into stereotypes.
Dale Beran, in his 2019 book It Came from Something Awful, described the film as a “queer-interest” B-movie “in the hyper-transgressive tradition of John Waters.” That comparison is apt. Like Waters’ early work — Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living — the film uses deliberate offense as both its engine and its punchline. The question of whether it transcends its own provocations or simply wallows in them has never been definitively settled.
The cast features Coco P. Dalbert, Sammy Saloman, Gerald F. Hail, Gbatokai Dakinah, Konrad Fields, and Johnny Conny Tony Thomas in the various roles. Little biographical information exists about most of these performers, adding to the film’s general air of mystery.
Internet Afterlife
For most of its existence, Gayniggers from Outer Space circulated in the furthest margins of cult cinema — the kind of film you might encounter at a midnight screening or stumble across on a bootleg tape. Its broader cultural footprint was negligible.
That changed in two distinct waves.
First, in the early 2000s, the internet troll group known as the Gay Nigger Association of America (GNAA) adopted the film as a kind of mascot, taking their name directly from it. The GNAA was primarily known for disrupting online forums and websites, and the film’s provocative title suited their general approach to internet culture.
The second, larger wave came around 2024, when a meme format emerged encouraging people to search “what space movie came out in 1992.” The punchline was simply the shock of seeing the film’s title appear in search results. The meme’s virality introduced the film to millions of people who had never heard of it — and who, in most cases, still haven’t actually watched it.
This is a film whose reputation has almost entirely eclipsed its actual content. The vast majority of people who know the title have never seen the 26 minutes of footage attached to it.
The Film Festival Trail
Despite everything about the film that would seem to disqualify it from polite company, Gayniggers from Outer Space did make its way through legitimate film festival circuits. Beyond its 1993 premiere at the NatFilm Festival in Copenhagen, it was selected for screening at the Stockholm Queer Film Festival in 2006 — a full fourteen years after its production.
The Stockholm Queer Film Festival selection is particularly notable. It suggests that at least some curators within LGBTQ+ film programming recognized something in the film beyond its surface-level provocations, whether that was a transgressive queer sensibility, a campy absurdism worth preserving, or simply a historical curiosity too strange to ignore.
Should You Watch It?
Here’s the honest assessment. Gayniggers from Outer Space is 26 minutes long, and you can find it with minimal effort if you look. It’s not a hidden masterpiece. It’s not the worst thing ever committed to celluloid either. It exists in a strange middle ground where its ambitions — to provoke, to parody, to be as ridiculous as humanly possible — are both its greatest asset and its most obvious limitation.
If you’re the kind of viewer who appreciates the outer fringes of cult cinema, who finds something genuinely fascinating in the question of where satire ends and offense begins, or who simply wants to understand what all the meme fuss is about, it’s worth your time. It’s shorter than most episodes of prestige television.
If transgressive humor isn’t your thing, or if you find the title alone exhausting enough, that’s a perfectly reasonable response too. Not every film needs to be seen by every person.
What’s undeniable is that the film occupies a genuinely unique place in cinema history. There is nothing else quite like it — a Danish blaxploitation sci-fi parody directed by a cosmic guru-slash-taxi driver, screened at queer film festivals, adopted by internet trolls, and turned into a search engine prank. That’s a cultural trajectory that no screenwriter could plausibly invent.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Title | Gayniggers from Outer Space |
| Year | 1992 |
| Runtime | 26 minutes |
| Director | Morten Lindberg (Master Fatman) |
| Co-Writer / SFX | Per Kristensen |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Satirical Sci-Fi / Blaxploitation Parody |
| Notable Screenings | NatFilm Festival (1993), Stockholm Queer Film Festival (2006) |
| IMDb Rating | 5.8/10 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gayniggers from Outer Space a Real Movie?
Yes, it is a real 26-minute short film produced in Denmark in 1992. It was directed by Morten Lindberg (Master Fatman) and screened at legitimate film festivals including the NatFilm Festival in Copenhagen and the Stockholm Queer Film Festival.
What Is the “Space Movie 1992” Meme?
The meme involves tricking people into searching “what space movie came out in 1992,” which returns results for this film. The joke relies on the shock value of the title appearing in search results. The meme gained significant traction around 2024.
Is the Film Meant to Be Satirical or Offensive?
The director described it as a satire of blaxploitation and science fiction genres. Critics and audiences remain divided on whether it succeeds as satire or simply relies on provocation. The film has been compared to the transgressive comedy tradition of filmmaker John Waters.
Who Was Master Fatman?
Master Fatman was the stage name of Morten Mabunda Lindberg (1965–2019), a Danish performance artist, comedian, musician, television personality, and taxi driver. Gayniggers from Outer Space was his only directorial work. He passed away in Copenhagen in 2019.
Where Can I Watch Gayniggers from Outer Space?
The film circulates online and can be found on various video-sharing platforms. It has never received a major commercial distribution release, which is consistent with its underground cult status.
What Is the Connection to Plan 9 from Outer Space?
The film’s title is a deliberate play on Grave Robbers from Outer Space, the original working title of Ed Wood’s legendary 1957 B-movie Plan 9 from Outer Space. The entire production style is an intentional homage to Ed Wood’s famously low-budget filmmaking approach.
Cinema Obscura is a recurring series on Choking on Popcorn where we explore the strangest, most forgotten, and most fascinating films that most people have never heard of. Got a suggestion for a future entry? Contact us.
