Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]Mario Bava... this guy during his life time was a real pioneer of B Horror, what with having done such films as, The Evil Eye (1963), Black Sunday (1960), and Twitch Of The Death Nerve (1971) to name a few...
I am sad to report though unfortunately that despite the fact that I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on both Horror and Science Fiction, that Mario Bava happens to be one of the better more well respected directors in the history of the horror movie genre, that I actually haven't seen almost anything that he has come out with!
This is a situation that I have started to rectify having just recently seen a great Science Fiction/Horror Movie that has gone down in the annals of B Movie history... That movie of course being, Planet Of The Vampires (1965)!
Written by: Mario Bava (Baron Blood), Alberto Bevilacqua (Black Sabbath), Callisto Cosulich (Flash Back), Louis M. Heyward (Sergeant Dead Head), Ib Melchoir (Death Race 2000), Renato Pestriniero, Antonio Roman (The Sun In the Mirror), Rafael J. Salvia (Chino) and Directed by: Mario Bava. Starring: Barry Sullivan (Survival), Norma Bengell (Banquete), Angel Aranda (Satan's Blood), Evi Marandi (Il baco da seta), Stelio Candeli (Demons), Franco Andrei (The Big Show), Fernando Villena (Night Of The Seagulls), Mario Morales (Kyoko), Ivan Rassimov (Eaten Alive!), Federico Boido (Ace High), Alberto Cevenini (Death On The Fourposter) and, Massimo Righi (Blood And Black Lace).
There is something truly amazing about B Movies, despite the fact that these movies seldom have the same level of special effects as the major studio productions, but the acting and directing in my opinion is usually great, the story is always fun, and the campy special effects are usually pretty kick ass! And, Planet Of The Vampires is no different!
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Groovey uniforms, eh?[/caption]Now this truly kick ass B Movie, tells the story of how after receiving signals from another planet for years, the planet Earth sends two space ships, 'The Argos' and, 'The Galliott'.
But once the crews arrive on the planet though, strange things start happening, including, having the crew slowly but surely disappear, and when the crew of the Argos discovers that the Galliott had crash landed on the planet, the rescue party discover that they had all killed themselves!
Now the longer that the diminishing surviving crew of the Argos stays on the planet, they will discover something that could change the Human Race in a way that no one could ever have imagined!
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Don't worry folks, all this guy needs is a little sleep, and then he will be ready to have the rest of his crew for dinner... literally![/caption]As for this movie, (which was an influence on the Alien movie series I am convinced), was a pretty solid one, and if you like B Movies, then you are really going to like this one, if you generally don't like B Movies then you probably won’t, but the truth is, is that this movie in general is an awful lot of fun! And definitely worth it!
http://youtu.be/F-PcyyDlytM
