Planet of the Vampires/ Terrore nello spazio (1965), Dir. Mario Bava, 88 mins, Blu-ray
Is it ridiculous to suggest that it doesn’t really matter if Planet of the Vampires is actually a good film or not- for me, its real worth is simply from its aesthetic: its very likely the definitive sci-fi pulp movie. A visual treat, I’ve heard it described as an example of 1960s Pop Art and I guess that’s fitting; it couldn’t really be from any other decade. Released in 1965, it presaged two things that changed space movies forever- one, we landed on the moon (and the ensuing space program showed the mundane reality and limits of, human space exploration, with the public so unengaged that the later moon landings were -incredibly- considered boring), and two, Stanley Kubrick made 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film that was shaped by the realities of space travel and in turn shaped how it would be portrayed on film. No longer was science fiction solely the purview of cheap b-movies. It largely (albeit yes, there’s plenty of exceptions) put an end to movies luxuriating in the space opera visions of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s… One could argue that the cold reality dampened down the sheer romance and innocence of those pulp fantasies- well, until Star Wars came around.
While many viewers might find it hard to adjust to just how odd and dated the film undoubtedly is, I feel the film just works for what it is; a throwback to a different, rather extinct kind of space movie- a pulp space opera straight of those old 1930s/1940s pulp magazines and those pre-code EC comics of the 1950s, garish covers depicting space maidens and giant robots and flying saucers. Eminently outdated, quite daft and silly but also quite intoxicating. Its imagery really is quite beautiful, rendered especially fine in this new Blu-ray from Radiance – I imagine it hasn’t looked this good since its original theatrical exhibition.
Visually it packs a punch way above its obviously meagre budget, and tonally it has a surprisingly haunting sense of nightmarish dread; like a dream, it seldom really makes any sense (the ship interiors in no way match the miniature model used for the exteriors) but curiously that doesn’t really seem to matter. Its that aesthetic: leather spacesuits with ridiculous collars, motorbike space helmets, the beautiful women, the blinking lights, the gloriously vibrant volcanic alien landscapes. Its what those pulp magazines dreamed the future would be, with a dash of Lovecraft horror from the Weird Tales pulp.
The story… well, such as it is, doesn’t make much sense no matter how hard one tries, and is mostly remarked upon by sci-fi fans for its obvious similarities to Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979)- I don’t know if he ever admitted to it or not, but Dan O’Bannon was surely a fan of this film, or at least had certainly seen it, as he seems to liberally borrow from it in his Alien script. Its curious to consider how much the most banal of ideas can be polished in execution- deep down the story of Alien is as silly as that of Planet of the Vampires, but dressed up with big-budget art direction and a cast of excellent character actors, the film is elevated to some other level far above Bava’s film, even though they are clearly close cousins.
The spaceships Argos and Galliot have travelled to the mysterious planet Aura, investigating a strange transmission that may be of alien origin. Their final approach and landing proves to be disastrous- both ships manage to land after suffering life-threatening G-forces that render the crews unconscious but upon waking members of the crew go crazy and attack each other without reason. The Argos crew manages to break the influence of whatever has overcome them, but a subsequent excursion to its unresponsive sister ship finds the crew of the Galliot all dead, having murdered each other, save for two who are missing. While the Argos is being repaired, an expedition explores an ancient derelict craft nearby (likely also attracted by the signal) and discovers a giant alien skeleton within. The Argos crew eventually realise they are being threatened by an alien presence native to Aura that can possess the living and reanimate the dead, and turn them into killers. The aliens later reveal that their planet’s sun is dying and the spectral creatures need hosts in order to escape the planet and perpetuate their race by infecting/possessing the living and dead of another planet.
Planet of the Vampires has a lot to offer and I must confess I really do like it, and its great that Radiance deemed the film worthy of this kind of attention- this limited edition is really quite special (its a shame that the major studios with more ‘classic’ films really only pay lip service at this kind of release, with charmless tat boxes that do films a disservice). I had watched the English version on YouTube a few months ago – I think it was a rip of the Kino disc issued in America awhile back- so watched the original Italian version this time. Being unfamiliar with the film, I couldn’t say what differences there are other than it having the original audio track and subtitle translation, certainly there’s no extra scenes that I can recall, but maybe I can be sure of that on later views. It certainly looks gorgeous, a good reminder of why some Blu-rays make 4K upgrades unnecessary.
Typically of boutique labels, this Radiance release has plenty of extras- an archival commentary track by Tim Lucas on the AIP/English-language version, several video features including a great 41-minute documentary, a Super-8 version that edits the film down indicating what kind of home versions folks had to put up with in the pre-videotape era, an 80-page book of essays exploring the film, art cards featuring several alternate poster designs (I really liked these, much better than the usual stills we get) and a 20-page booklet featuring a new translation of Renato Pestriniero’s original short story that the film was based on.
The film may not find itself on anyone’s ten-best list, but this release surely will be in contention regards the best ten disc releases of 2024. Great stuff. One last point; I must confess that Planet of the Vampires is the first and only Mario Bava film that I’ve seen, I’m certainly curious to see more.
the ghost of 82 
Reviewed this one myself a couple months ago after not seeing it for a long time; the story holds up like wet paper, but Bava’s visuals make it more memorable than it would be otherwise.
Style over substance wasn’t just a Ridley Scott trick, it seems.
Haven’t watched the film yet, but hard agree on the art cards. I’m not sure if their current omnipresence as an extra is because people genuinely love them or because they’re cheap/easy to produce, but I find most sets are rubbish — the imagery is often weak or bland, not even good photography or depicting memorable scenes. But these poster art ones are rather nice, and would seem to me to be a better default route for the ‘genre’ to go down.
Regards Bava, I’ve only seen a couple of his films so am certainly no expert, but I’d recommend The Girl Who Knew Too Much. Completely different to this — it’s more like a black-and-white Hitchcockian thriller — but very atmospheric.