******SPACESHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!******

In 1965, famed gothic horror filmmaker Mario Bava (1914-1980)—director of movies such as “Black Sunday,” “Blood and Black Lace,” and “Black Sabbath”—made a rare foray into science fiction. While “Planet of the Vampires” (original Italian title, “Terrore nello Spazio”) isn’t representative of Bava’s best work, it’s among his most visually creative, influencing generations of sci-fi and horror filmmakers that followed, most notably Ridley Scott’s “ALIEN” (1979), which had other cinematic parents (including Curtis Harrington’s low-budget 1966 space horror flick, “Queen of Blood”), but none so directly influential as this film. 

I first got my mitts on a used DVD copy of “Planet of the Vampires” around 15 years ago, but for this review, I sprang for the 2022 remastered Blu-Ray by Kino Lorber.  This Blu-Ray is the 86-minute English-dubbed version of the movie, whose screenplay was rewritten for English by Ib Melchior (“Angry Red Planet,” “Robinson Crusoe on Mars”). Sadly, the juvenile dialogue and characters are not exactly the strongest selling points for the movie, though in fairness, this earlier flick is to “ALIEN” what the 1930s “Flash Gordon” serials were to “Star Wars”—a crude yet clear predecessor.

The Italian-language version, “Terror nello Spazio” (“Terror in Space”) runs 88 minutes, however Italian is not the cast’s native language(s), as Bava often hired international actors and had them speak in their native languages during filming, as he did with “Black Sabbath” (famously dubbing the legendary Boris Karloff with a gruff, nondescript Italian actor).  Given that context? I don’t feel I’m missing too much by watching the English-dubbed version for this review.

It’s also my understanding that the overall story and scenes remain more or less the same in both versions.  If I’m wrong on this? I welcome corrective comments below. 

“Planet of the Vampires” (aka “Terrore nello Spazio”)

Directed and cowritten by Bava (with multiple cowriters) from the story “One Night of 21 Hours” by Renato Pestriniero, the movie opens in deep space as twin spaceships Galliott and Argos are investigating a mysterious signal from an uncharted planet called Aurus.  We follow the crew of the Argos, led by Captain Mark Markary (Barry Sullivan), who might just have the worst name in his space fleet…

Note: As mentioned above, the cast is a cosmopolitan mix of Italian, Greek, Spanish and Brazilian actors, led by lone American Barry Sullivan (1912-1994). The stalwart Sullivan worked steadily in movies and TV throughout his long career, most notably in the 1949 version of “The Great Gatsby” and 1973’s “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,” though he never quite achieved breakout status. Given this film’s alleged $200,000 budget (in US dollars), Sullivan was perhaps the closest the film could get to a star name.  Already in his fifties at the time, Sullivan was easily the most experienced member of this young, largely no-name cast.

We see Argos calling the Galliott for a status check, and we learn Captain Markary’s brother, Toby (Alberto Cevenini) is aboard the sister ship.  It’s mentioned with heavy-handed foreshadowing that if it weren’t for their twin ships’ “Meteor Rejector” beams, they’d be clobbered by the space debris whizzing by the planet. Both ships are homing in on a mysterious alien beacon coming from the planet Aura (sound familiar yet? Strap yourselves in…).

Note: I wonder why a ship’s asteroid deflector would be mounted inside of the spaceship?  It’s illogical, kind of like a car with a steering wheel under the hood.

As the ships approach Aura, they are caught in unexpectedly monstrous gravity that pulls them both toward the planet.  With the Argos crew mainly pinned to their chairs and consoles (sort of), they are barely able to activate retrorockets to execute a safe landing.  The fate of their sister ship Galliott remains unknown.

Note: Not sure if it was a mistranslation or not, but the American version says they experience over 20 Gs during descent—which is bone-breaking, yet some characters are still able to lift their heads and arms to work switches (?!?). But if I choose to nitpick over the endless scientific sins of this movie, I’d never finish this review.

Upon landing, most of the Argos crew suddenly lapse into homicidal rages (as most coworkers do), save for Captain Mark Markary (of course), who is able to snap most of his crew out of their murderous trances by punching them, shaking them hard, or throwing them to the floor (naturally).  None of the disoriented crew remembers remember their brief violent episodes.  A still-afflicted crewman named Bert (Franco Andrei) flees the ship, rushing out into the dark foggy mists of Aura, before he’s stopped by Mark and the crew (now there’s a time-saving way to check if the air is safe; have a psychotic crewman open the outer hatch without a helmet).

Note: The twin spaceships of the movie look like bathtub toys, with a complete lack of scale or other detailing. Their vaguely horseshoe shapes are not too dissimilar from the derelict spaceship seen in “ALIEN” (see comparisons after the synopsis). The spaceship miniatures were shot underwater for the landing ad liftoff sequences, with a single light source and billowing bubbles acting as rocket exhaust. There are NO optical effects in the film—every special effects scene requiring miniatures or other optical FX were shot in-camera, including forced perspective for shots combining actors with miniatures. Even video screens (and video watches) were shot using actors in front of glass or mirrors, with vague strobe lighting to resemble old flickering TV screens. One can only imagine what they could’ve done with a healthier budget…

Back inside the Argos, Mark and his crew break out infrared beam gizmos and locate their sister ship Galliott within walking distance.  The Galliott has gone silent since landing.  Mark leads crew members Sanya (Norma Bengell), Tiona (Evi Marandi), Eldon (Mario Morales) and Wes (Ángel Aranda) in a boarding party.  They cross the dark, rugged, fog-shrouded terrain of the planet on foot and reach the Galliott, finding two dead and bloodied crewmen, locked in a fatal embrace near the ship’s landing gear. 

Note: This is where Bava’s horror experience kicks in. Horror was his mainstay. For much better Mario Bava films, check out “Black Sunday” or “Black Sabbath” and you’ll see Bava truly in his element.

Once inside, they find the rest of the crew, including Mark’s kid brother Toby, slain in the command deck; all apparently murdered by the same homicidal impulses experienced within the Argos crew, but with no survivors.  While the officers form a burial detail for the bodies outside, the rest of the dead crew are isolated by the command deck’s heavy pressure doors.  Mark looks for a device to open the doors, so the crew inside can be buried as well.

Note: The spaceship interior sets are downright cavernous; something else it has in common with “ALIEN,” as we saw with the massive interiors of the Nostromo, whose crew of seven were virtually lost within its corridors. This was done deliberately in both films to suggest large, futuristic haunted houses.

Meanwhile, Eldon and Wes stand guard outside, as flashes of light are seen just beyond the periphery of their vision.  This is a phenomenon Mark sees as well, but can’t identity. Other crew members from the Argos are posted around the Galliott for guard duty, as well (the movie’s equivalent of Star Trek redshirts). In the Galliott’s infirmary, Tiona relieves a grateful Sanya of tedious post-mortem duties and paperwork.  Once alone, Tiona sees the scarred corpse on the examining table open its eyes. A terribly shaken Tiona is then taken back to the Argos, where she is temporarily confined to its infirmary. 

Note: The movie deserves kudos for showing two women crew members on the Argos who are not sex kittens or objects of lust for leering men. Instead, they perform most of the same tasks as any other crewman might. Gender equality was another idea “ALIEN” would take a step further with its lead character of Ripley, 14 years later. This was surprisingly progressive in 1965, coming a year before TV’s “Star Trek.” Unfortunately, Tiona’s hysterical collapse briefly reduces her to another typical damsel in distress (not unlike hysterical navigator Lambert of “ALIEN”). Two steps forward, one backward…

Returning with tools to open the sealed command chamber, Captain Markary finds the chamber empty.  Two additional redshirts—er, crewmen—from the Argos are found dead as well.  The two are quickly buried along with the Galliott crew members found earlier.  Shortly after the burials—when no one is watching, of course—the heavy metal plates covering the shallow graves are removed, and rising undead crewmen rip out of their plastic body bags in slow motion…

Note: The movie’s plot is like a more successful version of Ed Wood’s “Plan Nine from Outer Space” (1957) with alien beings using reanimated human corpses as part of their plans for universal conquest (rotting cadavers probably wouldn’t make very efficient soldiers, I’d imagine).

Mark checks in with the Argos mechanic, who is making repairs to damage sustained during landing. While repairs are underway, more of the Argos crew are being murdered by unseen zombie assassins, and Captain Markary is filled with foreboding during a private log recording.  Meanwhile, Wes uses the ship’s infrared scope to locate a third spaceship, not too far from their landing site. Mark takes Sanya and crewman Carter (Ivan Rassimov) with him to investigate. The trio soon find the alien spaceship, which is decaying and dilapidated, suggesting it’s been there for some time.

As Carter stands guard outside, Mark and Sanya enter the ancient vessel, where they find a massive skeleton inside, considerably larger than a human being.  Fumbling around with the controls, they find the ship still has power, as they activate an old recording in an eerie alien language. The uncomfortably loud recording is so unsettling that Sanya begs Mark to shut it off.  Unable to stop the recording, Mark smashes the playback device with a heavy object instead (so much for science).  Meanwhile, the only door leading in or out of the compartment closes unexpectedly, sealing them both inside.  Sanya then has difficulty breathing, as air is sucked out of the room—forcing the captain to use a dangerous, electrocuting hand control to reopen the door (like an industrial-strength gag hand buzzer).  Once outside, they find that Carter has disappeared (why do they always post only one guard in these movies…?).

Note: Eerily reminiscent of the future “ALIEN” space jockey sequence, the massive alien skeleton and the loud, booming voice we hear in the replayed log recording are genuinely unnerving, making this my favorite scene of the movie. There are many good ideas in this film, but they’re hindered by a lack of money, time and technology to bring them to fruition. Such a shame.

Returning to the Argos, Mark and Sanya find the reanimated corpses of Galliott Captain Sallis (Massimo Righi) and crewman Keir (Federico Boido). The two pretend as though they were only injured, trying to join the remaining Argos crew.  Once alone, the undead duo steal the Argos’ Meteor Rejector beam emitter in an act of sabotage.  As Keir escapes with the device, Mark confronts his counterpart, Capt. Sallis. Realizing the jig is up, zombie-Sallis rips open his uniform to reveal a rotting torso and exposed ribcage.  

The villainsplaining zombie-Sallis confesses that he and his undead colleagues are disembodied Aurans who inhabit corpses in order to escape their own dying planet.  Zombie-Sallis then offers to return the critical Meteor Rejector in exchange for passage to the Argos crew’s home world, where the non-corporeal Aurans will inhabit more human bodies.  Mark rejects the proposal, and tells zombie-Sallis to get stuffed.  

Note: Actor Massimo Righi is another member of the Bava troupe, having also appeared in the “Wurdulak” segment of “Black Sabbath” (1963) as well as “Blood and Black Lace” (1964).

The big action climax of the movie is a bit confusing logistically, as Mark gathers his crew around for a final assault on the deadites aboard the Galliott in order to retrieve the stolen Meteor Rejector device.  After a confusingly staged firefight in the fog (with flamethrowers standing in as de facto laser guns), the Argos crew offer their lives to act as cover, while Mark and Sanya successfully steal back the Rejector device. Delivering the Rejector to Wes, the only other survivor of the Argos crew, telling him to reinstall the device and blast off, whether it’s fully installed or not. 

After the ship returns to space, Wes notices Sanya and Captain Markary acting strangely. When he confronts them with their odd behavior, they confess that they too, have been taken over by the Aurans, and offer holdout Wes one last chance to join them in converting the human race.  Wes, the only real hero of the movie, sabotages the Rejector, and fatally electrocutes himself in the process.  

Note: If the Aurans could inhabit living beings so easily (as we see with Mark and Sanya), why did they bother having both crews try to kill each other first upon landing? Couldn’t they have simply possessed the living crews as they were? I guess reanimated corpses are scarier than mere possessed folk, even if neither technically qualify as the titular vampires.

With Wes dead, and the Rejector device damaged beyond repair, zombie-Sanya and zombie-Mark decide to set down on a nearby alien planet for repairs; an inhabited planet with a primitive humanoid civilization.  Their telescopes zoom in on images of the New York skyline, circa mid-1960s.  The alien planet is called… Earth. 

Note: The Battlestar Galactica-twist ending really doesn’t add much to the movie, which would’ve been just as effective if the Mark and Sanya were humans simply heading back to Earth in the first place. Learning that the crews of Argos and Galliott were human-looking aliens is a meaningless point. 

The End.

“Planet of the Vampires”/“ALIEN” Comparisons

Here are just a few of the visual similarities between Mario Bava’s “Planet of the Vampires” and Ridley Scott’s “ALIEN.”

There are many other little moments that “ALIEN” borrows and perfects later on, such as the idea of the crew being invaded by alien parasites who use human bodies in order to reach other planets (an idea also seen in Star Trek TOS’ “Operation: Annihilate!”).

Summing It Up

Director and cowriter Mario Bava (“Black Sunday,” “Black Sabbath”) was part of the Bava’s Italian filmmaking dynasty, which began with his cinematographer father Eugenio and continued with his director son, Lamberto.  Mario Bava was a maestro of color, bathing his movies in potent hues of purple, blue, green and red.  “Planet of the Vampires” (“Terrore nello Spazio”) represents his sole foray into science fiction, albeit one drenched in horror.

There are no actual ‘vampires’ in “Planet of the Vampires.” In fact, the possessed astronauts are more akin to zombies than bloodsucking, sunlight-challenged vampires, but this issue is easily attributable to American rebranding rather than any fault with the Italian language version, which was more generically titled “Terror in Space” (admittedly not an improvement). This was also a few years before 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead” forever changed zombies from spellbound voodoo victims into flesh-eating undead corpses.

The movie—made entirely without optical effects of any kind—can be forgiven for technical shortcomings, but less forgivable are its shallow characterizations and illogical plotting.  In fact, any hint of characterization takes a back seat to style, such as the impractical costumes that look more suited to MotoGP racing than star trekking. We also never get to know the crews of the Galliot or the Argos before they’re killed and reanimated. This is in stark contrast to the Nostromo crew in “ALIEN,” who feel like a close-knit dysfunctional family before they’re picked off.  That said, many shots and moments of “ALIEN” are specifically referential to this film, whether they’re acknowledged or not.

It’s clear that the talented, iconic Mario Bava was more comfortable with the gothic horror and crime-thriller genres than he was with sci-fi. But to his credit, Bava’s sci-fi film sows many seeds of good ideas, to be harvested later by future filmmakers of better means.  With its bathtub-toy spaceships, silly costumes and one-dimensional characters, the saving graces of the film are Bava’s mood and trademark lighting, which give this low-budget production a unique and colorful theatricality. 

At nearly 60-years old, “Planet of the Vampires” is not the best Mario Bava film, but its pioneering look, style and imagery clearly influenced generations of filmmakers who followed in Bava’s footsteps. That influence is still felt today.  This creaky, clunky ancestor of “ALIEN” might be challenging for modern audiences to get into, but there’s still much to admire in the effort.

Where To Watch

“Planet of the Vampires” is available to stream as part of YouTube Premium or Amazon Prime subscription services.  The movie is also available to digitally rent on AppleTV ($3.99).  For the best possible experience, I would recommend the recent 2022 remastered Kino Lorber Blu-Ray, which restores this low-budget movie to the fullest degree possible (see: Amazon or the Kino-Lorber website for purchase details; prices vary).