The greatest movie ever!

Perfect cast and a good story

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Planet of the Vampires takes up a rather curious moment in Bava's career. He had a reputation for the most part for making creepy and atmospheric horror movies that dealt with old-school themes (one of which, Black Sabbath, has Boris Karloff featured prominently), and of the two 'Black' movies I've seen, Sabbath and Sunday, both provide the kind of eerie chills via Bava's exemplary sense of cinematography and how to frame spooky space that makes up for some lacking acting or creaky sets. But in this case, it's a science fiction movie first, and then a horror. At least that's what the title would make us believe it's a hybrid.Ultimately, if one had to classify it on the surface it is science fiction, and of the ilk that American International Pictures would swipe in a second for distribution. Unfortunately, the title (albeit one of several alternate titles) is misleading, as there aren't really vampires in the sense of what we know them as (though I'd prefer to think of these as vampires as opposed to, say, Twilight ::shrug::). So what of the story? Astronaut-scientists in black leather suits with collars up to their necks and dubbed into English are headed to some planet, and get a big ZAP at their ship or something that makes them all go kind of bonkers on the way down; violence erupts and some members of the crew attack others. Then they're on a mysterious, fog-filled planet, where graves have been marked that have metal coverings... and inside bodies wrapped in plastic, ready to come up on the signs of life that are on the ship.At least that's what I could gather from it. And actually there are two ships, and one of which that crashed on the planet none of the astronauts survived. So what of the vampires again? Nope, not really a-one in sight. It's more like an infectious plague of an alien race that takes over the bodies one by one - one can tell which is which by the way Bava does a QUICK zoom-in on the faces of the astronauts, their faces becoming torn apart by the virus - and it's up to a few on-the-defensive astronauts to fend off the others and make sure they don't fulfill their plan, which is to leave the planet and take over another.The opening minutes of when they get on the planet seem to precede Alien in means of a very creepy, densely fogged (must emphasize the fog here as it's one of the film's main attributes in its style) and well-designed planet. Perhaps it's the Italian side of things; I could see an American director taking similar material and characters in their costumes and with some ridiculous dialog as the silly stuff that it is. But what Bava brings to the table is the horror element, what we don't see is much more terrifying than what may come what may, and in a way what leads up to seeing the deformed and "vampiric" astronauts is more frightening than actually seeing them in the rotting flesh.I was impressed by that aspect, how in terms of production design and mood the film was ahead of its time. On other counts it doesn't fare better or less than other movies of its ilk (or even Star Trek) in terms of a group of people in ships come to a planet and s**t happens. But I do think that there is that added ingredient of Bava that makes the difference. And considering also how low the budget for this movie is (I have to think they used some previous sets), there is a lot done with a little. If one can look past most of the acting, which is admittedly stiff (even if the actresses are nice to look at in a shallow way), then the atmosphere of a somewhat unique horror-space environment makes up for it. It's a solid B-movie that properly has the release of an MGM "Midnight Movie" release on DVD.

Master filmmaker Mario Bava is working at the peak of his abilities with this sinister sci-fi / horror flick that surely had to have influenced "Alien" just as much as "It! The Terror from Beyond Space". The story (the English language version was co-adapted by noted writer Ib Melchior, based on a tale by Renato Pestriniero) sees a group of astronauts investigating signals sent from a distant planet. They're forced to land, where a strange presence influences their minds and turns them against each other. Not only that, but these aliens are able to resurrect the bodies of the human dead.As fans of Bava come to expect, everything is very stylishly done. The atmosphere is overwhelming, the fog machine works overtime, the sets are incredible, and the use of colour is impeccable. It does actually feel like these characters could be on another planet. There's a little bit of gore along the way to spice things up. Even the costumes are stylized; dig the ridiculous size of those collars! The eerie music is by Gino Marinuzzi Jr. Bava creates a palpable sense of doom and gloom, and the story builds to an effective twist ending.The actors are all fine, with veteran Barry Sullivan ("The Bad and the Beautiful") assuming the role of the intrepid captain. Lovely ladies Norma Bengell and Evi Marandi play Sanya and Tiona, respectively. Angel Aranda plays the part of crew member Wess, and busy horror & exploitation star Ivan Rassimov ("The Man from the Deep River") has dual roles.If you're an admirer of "Alien", then you really should check out this suspenseful little gem that preceded it.Eight out of 10.

Although this 1965 film is an Italian production, directed by the famed Mario Bava, it was released by American International and stars American Barry Sullivan as the captain and main protagonist. Its original Italian title is (translated) "Terror in Space," which is better than the American title "Planet of the Vampires" (also "Demon Planet") seeing as how there are no blood-sucking vampires anywhere to be seen.THE STORY: Barry Sullivan commands a spaceship that goes to a strange unknown planet in response to a distress call from another ship. They soon discover that the creepy planet is home to incorporeal aliens who desire their bodies and ship to leave the planet.Although "Terror in Space" came out a year before the original Star Trek appeared on television, both the film and Star Trek borrow heavily from concepts introduced in the ground-breaking "Forbidden Planet" (1956). It should be noted that "Terror in Space" did not technically come before Star Trek since the first Trek pilot episode "The Cage" was filmed in 1964. And the second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was filmed at about the same time as "Terror" in 1965.POSITIVES: I've heard a lot of good things about this film over the years, in particular the ultra-cool black leather uniforms with Nazi-like emblems and the atmospheric creepiness of the planet, and was not disappointed.In addition, the film features two women -- a redhead and a blond -- as prominent figures in the crew of the spacecraft, a notable thing for 1965 (although keep in mind that Gene Roddenberry featured a female first officer in "The Cage" a year before). Both of these women are stunningly beautiful, enhanced by the black leather uniforms.Although the film borrows heavily from "Forbidden Planet" its story is original and innovative. So much so, in fact, that Ridley Scott's "Alien" (1979) ripped-off every main aspect of the first half (!!). No kidding. In defense of "Alien" Scott did take these concepts and made a BETTER sci-fi/horror picture.NEGATIVES: The film is from 1965 and therefore has dated sets and effects, comparable to the original Star Trek TV series. If this fact turns you off, stay away.Unlike "Forbidden Planet" and the original Star Trek the story isn't very compelling. Yes, the set-up is interesting but by the 35-minute mark I was highly tempted to tune out (and did the first time I tried to watch it). It's hard to say why the story isn't compelling despite the film's numerous innovations, but one reason for sure is that, unlike Star Trek, the crewmembers are bland and lack distinction.Some point out that "Terror in Space" is a darker version of the original Star Trek. This is true only in the sense that the sets and uniforms are darker; certainly not in the sense that it's more serious and mature. I say this because Star Trek was ultra-serious and mature right out of the gate; for verification 9 out of the first 10 episodes were dark, serious and mature in the truest sense -- "The Cage," "Where No Man Has Gone Before," "The Corbomite Maneuver," "Enemy Within," "The Man Trap," "The Naked Time," "Charlie X," "Balance of Terror" and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?".FINAL ANALYSIS: If it were 1965 I'd give "Terror in Space" a solid B+ (4/5 Stars), but since it's been so outdone by the original Star Trek and "Alien" I can only honestly rate it C+. Regardless, it deserves a revered spot in any sci-fi/horror aficionado's video library.

I was a bit afraid to watch this flick from the sixties. I don't dig flicks from the fifties or sixties but what a relieve it was to see this one. It's directed by Mario Bava well known for so much horror flicks. But here he directed a science fiction. Science fiction in that era is mostly out dated to today's standards but this here keep me watching and finally I really enjoyed it. It's a good story and you never see the real monsters or vampires. To say vampires is maybe a bit exaggerated because you don't see any fangs. But it contains for the time being a lot of blood and is even for that time gory. One person do open his jacket to show his body being ripped apart by the alien creatures. And just have a close look towards the space costumes they were wearing. It was made in leather and you could easily see that the collars annoyed them. They can't turn their face properly so they have to act a bit wooden. Nice flick and surely a view worth if you are into science fiction or even horror.