Review of Planet of the Vampires (1965) by Stephen M — 01 Sep 2009

Investigating the source of an extraterrestrial radio transmission, an exploration team touches down on a desolate planet. There they discover an alien spacecraft, the skeletal remains of her long dead crew and a malevolent parasite in search of a host.

Sound familiar? It should do because all of the above was ripped off by Ridley Scott's Alien, roughly fifteen years after this movie came out. With a miniscule budget, some bad acting, terrible dialogue and silly costumes, Planet of the Vampires ought to be a prime slice of Sixties cheese, enjoyable for all the wrong reasons.

What saves the film is Mario Bava's mastery of atmosphere and his genius for no-budget special effects. This isn't quite Bava at his best but it's still colourful, creepy and a lot of fun.

Forget the title though; the baddies here are not vampires, they're more like zombies or bodysnatchers, depending on whether their victims are still alive or already dead!