La Mort vient de la planète Aytin

Although Italy was known for sword and sandal films (such as the Hercules and Machiste pictures) and the so-called spaghetti westerns in the 1960s, the country made many other types of movies...including some sci-fi. "La Morte Viene dal Pianeta Aytin" ("Snow Devils") is one of quite a few sci-fi movies that were dubbed into English and marketed in the States. While the film would look like absolute garbage when "2001: A Space Odyssey" debuted just a year later, for 1967 the effects are actually generally pretty good...at least when they weren't using cheap and fuzzy stock footage here and there during the story.

When the picture begins, the temperatures around the planet are on the rise and snow is melting everywhere. An expedition in the Himalayas stumbles into the cause...some aliens who have been there for 100 years waiting to unleash their plan. What is the plan of these big, furry blue aliens? To flood the Earth and then quickly freeze it to turn the planet into a giant glacier, as that's the sort of temperatures these aliens like. And, since they also plan on taking over the planet, who cares what happens to the humans?! Can our intrepid heroes defeat the aliens at this base? And, if they do, will it stop the climactic problems...or is there another battle looming in the near future?

The film is modestly entertaining albeit a bit silly here and there. But for a 1960s sci-fi movie, it's actually reasonably good. Too bad the magnificent special effects with "2001" would soon make these Italian exports look mega-crappy in comparison.

...although it frequently crosses over into "so-bad-it's-good" territory.

This Italian sci-fi turkey that's the fourth in a series, released by MGM and from director Antonio Margheriti aka Anthony Dawson, has Giacomo Rossi Stuart aka Jack Stuart starring as Commander Rod Jackson, a man-of-action in the employ of the United Democracies Space Command, aka Gamma 1. He and his sidekick Captain Frank Pulasky (Freddy Unger) are sent to the Himalayas after HQ loses communication with a Gamma 1 weather station. Fellow Gamma 1 employee Lisa Nielson (Amber Collins) tags along to look for her boyfriend, Lt. Jim Harris (Rene Baldwin), who was the weather station chief. When they finally reach their destination, our heroes discover a race of Yetis, snow-dwelling ape creatures with a sinister secret agenda.

The "Gamma 1" series includes The Wild Wild Planet (1966), The War of the Planets (1966), War Between the Planets (1966), this film, and finally The Green Slime (1968). They all have tacky costumes and set design, terrible effects, and laughable plots to go along with the requisite awful dubbing. Stuart and Collins seem to be in a contest for most ridiculous hairstyle, while bad guy Meniconi looks like Zach Galifianakis in bad cosplay. Bradley is also an odd member of the cast as a black Himalayan porter and comic relief (I think).

In SNOW DEVILS, havoc strikes in the Arctic, and climate change ensues. This has to do with Yeti whom are actually hairy-armed aliens wearing Bigfoot boots.

Apparently, our planet is doomed.

Enter Commander Jackson (Giacomo Rossi Stuart), a man with the most glorious pompadour on any human head. Ever! Jackson is dispatched to engage the aliens on their home turf. He's humanity's only hope.

This movie contains: Absurd action! Ridiculous romance! Dizzyingly dumb dialogue! Catastrophic costumes!

The "special" effects pretty much boil down to miniature displays on someone's billiard table, and outer space models with absolutely no effort made to make them appear even remotely realistic. In other words, this is a must-see for the true schlock enthusiast. So, if you're a connoisseur of crap, this is your BEN HUR!

An astonishing achievment...

For hard core completists only. "Bad" is not a strong enough term. Dull, ham-fisted, tedious. Not entertaining and no fun. It's just awful, honestly. It's a chore slogging through this movie hoping that it gets better at some point. It doesn't. The characters are not likable and the dialog is dreadful.

The fourth entry in Italy's "Gamma One" spaghetti sci-fi series does have a rather amusing story. When a weather station in the Himalayas is attacked, and its employees killed, intrepid space captain Rod Jackson (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) is dispatched to find out what happened. In the company of his faithful sidekick Frank Pulasky (Goffredo Unger), a guide (Wilbert Bradley), and assorted porters, they venture into the mountains, and encounter the title culprits: the yetis of legend, who just so happen to be aliens!

Series director Antonio Margheriti (who also co-wrote the screenplay) has some fun with the far out premise - for a while. While "Snow Devils" isn't as engaging as earlier entries, it's still goofy enough to work, with villains who helpfully give the audience and the heroes all the exposition that they could need. While it will strike its viewers as being cheap and cheesy (the Snow Devils are pretty tacky looking), it's this "quality" that makes the movie moderately charming. The performances are adequate from all concerned, and the ladies - Ombretta Colli, Halina Zalewska - are lovely. Enzo Fiermonte once again essays the role of the steadfast General Norton.

The problem is that Margheriti can't steer the story towards an effective finale. Things actually get too slow and too quiet instead of building up the tension and excitement. But at least we eventually get rewarded with a couple of explosions.

This movie does offer a reasonable amount of fun, even if it's not altogether satisfying.

Followed by an unofficial series entry, the notorious "The Green Slime".

Six out of 10.