| Planet of the Vampires - 1965 | |
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Directed by the great Mario Bava, PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (aka Planet of Blood) is a tour de force in the rocketship genre, and a milestone in the entire scifi world. Rarely does a film strike itself out in such bold strokes--rich intense color, strikingly effective mood, and wonderfully designed costumes and hardware. It is a profound feast for the eyes. With a script by Ib Melchior (adapted from the short story 'One Night of 21 Hours' by Renato Pestriniero), this Italian production tells the story of the spaceship Argos, approaching fog-shrouded planet Aura through a field of meteors, protected by their 'meteor rejector.' Along with their sister ship Galliot, they descend toward the planet. Suddenly, contact with the Galliot is lost and gravitational force increases, drawing them down to the mysterious planet. The ship crashes, and as the crew revive, they inexplicably and senselessly begin trying to kill one another. As they regain their sanity, a message from the Galliot pleads for help. They try to take the ship off to go to her aid, but someone has sabotaged the equipment. They are forced to trek on foot across treacherous landscape to reach the Galliot, where they find all the crewmen dead, killed by one another, and the ship sabotaged. Their meteor rejector is smashed. People, both living and dead, begin to disappear. When one of the Argos' crewmen is caught trying to sabotage the Argos' own meteor rejector, he tells of being overwhelmed by a prescence while he slept that supressed his will and forced him to do its bidding. Another crewman is killed--before dying, he blames the dead Captain of the Galliot. They find another ship, an alien one, extremely old, with remains of the alien dead. Their discoveries on the ship raise even more questions. ...from here, things get a tad odd. We'll leave it at that. This film features far more suspense and atmosphere than most films can even imagine. Bava's imagery is lush, extreme, and disturbing. The mood is terrific, and the design work is imaginative and plentiful. The most effective parts, though, are in what you don't see--in empty bunks, in missing items, in what might be lurking out there in the dark and the fog. This film beautifully establishes possibilities that don't need to be shown, just to be possible. It works wonderfully, and seamlessly matches the science-fiction elements with the horror. (The only drawback I can think of is that the dubbing cast consists of several folks who also did SPEED RACER, making it a little hard for me to get past that. :-) )
PLUSES: Absolutely gorgeous. Groovy black leather costumes with red piping. Lighting in bright, rich primary colors, and lots of shadows. The implied form of the dead aliens alone will stick with you for a long time. Great mood, style, and a good, chilling story. MINUSES: The dubbing might be a little difficult for some folks. |
