Terrore nello spazio

In the film PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES, there is an undeniable creeping dread, a very real sense of terror, in every scene. Despite the obvious lack of money, Bava wrung some eerie, disturbing imagery out of his sf schlock piece. Considering this is an Italian production of the mid-60s, director Bava infuses some real originality into his story, taking a 1950s crew of square-jawed astronauts and forcing them to confront the future of horror: a horde of gore-streaked zombies, an omnipresent supernatural force invading the crew's minds, and a nihilistic ending.

What is great about POTV stems from Bava, his dynamic camera, and his framing. The marooned spacecraft atop a craggy hillside, approached by rescuing astronauts, looks like a haunted house against the black-clouded sky of the planet. When the living dead begin stalking the pitted, fiery surface of the planet, intent on killing the astronauts, Bava effectively uses the new horror icons of fear: not of fear, but of zombiefication, of characters who could be us, once just human, but now horribly returned as mutilated living corpses set to kill friends and family.

PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES is exciting, arresting in places, and nuanced in small ways even by the actors involved, all of them physically fit with numerous fight scenes. Sullivan and Bengall aren't creating their

characters, but they react realistically as human beings in an increasingly hopeless situation. The final scenes, of the

astronauts attempt to escape the planet, set upon by the living dead, have a psychological edge to go along with the action, as these noble travelers overcome their fear of the planet, of the zombies, and the horrible prospect of becoming zombies themselves, in order to end the hungering menace all around them. These scenes predate the best of George Romero's DEAD films or any John Carpenter flick, where a group of survivors are whittled down to just a few, and then to one, by a wave of seemingly unstoppable supernatural force.

It should be noted that "vampires" refer to parasites, not classic monsters, and truly this is more of a "zombie" film than a "vampire" movie. The film Bava made is gory and violent for 1965 when it was released, and as interesting as it was then, it's just as interesting now to see how POTV influenced later horror-film greats, not only in theory but in execution. And it's still better than 95 percent of the recent Hollywood sf-horror films of the past decade, bar none.

This new release in the "MGM Midnight Movies" series of DVDs is an absolute must-have. The print of this 1965 classic is gorgeous, and for the first time since its theatrical release viewers can see the film in its original wide-screen format. For those who -- like me -- purchased the HBO Video version on VHS, don't worry: The original spare-but-effective electronic score has been restored, instead of the "updated" abomination that made the VHS print almost unwatchable.

Although I've never heard Dan O'Bannon acknowledge it, certain elements of this film must have been in his mind when he was working on "Alien": Two spaceships are drawn to an eerie, fog-shrouded planet by a mysterious radio signal, then snatched from orbit by an irresistible force. After crash landing, the surviving crew find themselves pitted against their own dead shipmates, resurrected by the parasitic mentalities of the planet, a dying race who must find a new home. There's even a scene where Barry Sullivan and Norma Bengell investigate an ancient, derelict alien spacecraft, complete with giant skeletons (any of this sound familiar?)

The set designs -- the cavernous interior of the spaceship and the appropriately alien fixtures of the derelict -- are some of the best you'll find in any pre-1968 science fiction film. Sullivan is suitably stoic as the warrior-scientist Captain; the supporting cast and in particular the luscious Ms. Bengell turn in remarkably understated performances, perfectly conveying dread verging on panic. While this movie may disappoint fans of director Mario Bava who are more familiar with his horror films, as a science fiction film buff I rate it a solid 7.

Mario Bava does it again. The crystal colours, eerie atmosphere and evocative visuals are downright dazzling and haunting in this low-budget Italian Sci-fi outing. Never have I been disappointed in these technical aspects while experiencing the master at work. Many have mentioned it and the influences / similarities to Ridley Scott's 'Alien (1979)' ultimately sticks out. Even with that in mind it does share some ideas with the body snatcher theme, but it was a cleverly done concept done in a slow grinding, but extremely engaging style. The pacing is slow, but the flashy imagery and smoothly placed camera-work was hypnotic that it helped time flow by. My only real gripe was that the script was on the stilted side, but other than that it was one of those subtlety breezy mood pieces. More often the deaths happen off-screen and it's mostly free of action, to really only hit in the dying stages in some rapid set-pieces, but it's the dreary ending that's a strike of genius. Bava's crisp direction lets the otherworldly Gothic vibe take hold and while the sterile set designs look cheap it manages to be effective in its unusually stylish looks (add in seeping fog) and this invokes brooding unease and alienation. The surrounding sound effects and music score are creepily orchestrated. As for the special effects/make-up FX for such a low-cost production, they were well executed and ideally used. The acting can be rather rough in a staged sense with a dependable Barry Sullivan heading the way. Some of the characters were hard to tell apart though. A marvellously old-fashion, but influentially chilling space expedition.

The spaceships Argos commanded by Captain Mark Markary (Barry Sullivan) and her sister Galliot commanded by Captain Sallas (Massimo Righi) travel to the mysterious planet Aura to investigate a strange transmission of a distress signal. The spaceships are protected by the meteor rejector instrument but on the arrival, the gravity increases and the automatic controls go haywire and the Galliot crashes on the surface of Aura. Then the crew-members in Argos go crazy and attack each other in a first moment. Soon Captain Mark finds that most of the crew from Argos is dead after fighting against each other. When the dead members resurrect, Captain Mark, communications officer Sanya (Norma Bengell) and engineer Wess (Ángel Aranda) discover that parasite bodiless aliens have entrapped them with the transmission expecting to flee from their dying world. What will be their attitude?

"Terrore nello spazio", a.k.a. "Planet of the Vampires", despite the low- budget, is an original, stylish and with a surprising plot point. The conclusion shows a great surprise to the viewer. This movie was certainly the major influence to at least Ridley Scott's "Alien" and "Prometheus" that have similar storyline. It was said that the set was a Tower of Babel, with international cast using their own native language (Barry Sullivan, English; Norma Bengell, Portuguese; Ángel Aranda, Spanish; and Evi Marandi, English). My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Planeta dos Vampiros" ("The Planet of the Vampires")

Astronauts land on a mysterious planet and encounter many strange and dangerous things--like bodies that don't stay dead.

This Italian movie has horrendous dubbing (except for American Barry Sullivan), silly "special" effects and truly laughable, comic book level dialogue. But it's still worth seeing.

Director Mario Bava was a master at creating spooky atmospheres out of no budget. This was a VERY low budget film (it shows), but he covers it up with beautiful, inventive lighting, tons of dry ice and a really scary score. Also the astronauts wear tight leather outfits which are interesting and some of the Italian guys give good performances--Sullivan is horrible and the women are beyond belief. Also the film contains a few nice jolts and some very scary coming back from the dead sequences.

So, ignore the lousy dialogue and preposterous plot and concentrate on the visuals and sounds. Perfect late night viewing.