Quick - what can you do if you have $1.05 and about 6 yards of plastic wrap? Give up? You can make one of the most influential science fiction movies of all time - that's what! Wait - you've never heard of Planet of the Vampires? Have you heard of Alien? How about Aliens? But it's called Planet of the Vampires! I'm confused.....
Don't be confused. Planet of the Vampires is an Italian science fiction movie that has influenced countless movies that came after it. Some of those movies borrowed some of it's themes and ideas, and some of those movies - namely the Alien series - stole designs and sequences outright.
This movie concerns two ships that pick up on some sort of (distress?) beacon and set down to investigate it. Once they land, the crews are overcome with the desire to kill one another. If not for the courage of one of the fearless captains, both ships would be lost. He manages to beat some sense into the remaining crewmembers, and they explore this new planet, encountering many dangerous things along the way - not the least of which is their very own deceased fellow crewmembers, brought back to life by some strange power. What is causing all of this? What are those lights? Are there vampires, or was that just a lame American title? (That's a yes.)
The most interesting things about this movie are the parts that were stolen for Alien & Aliens. The design of the heroes ship is a nice shiny version of the ship found on LV-426 in Alien. The Space Jockey from Alien is here as well. He looks almost exactly the same. The team of (Marines) astronauts can't find any living people on the planet, but they keep getting killed off while on (duty) lookout. They don't find one little girl to take care of, though. Way to be original, James Cameron.
Mario Bava directed this, before his more celebrated slasher movies like Bay of Blood (Twitch of the Death Nerve for you Tarantino lovers out there) or Lisa and the Devil. It's violent, I suppose, but in a sort of harmless Sixties way. It's definitely worth seeing, and it's on Netflix Instant Watch right now, so check it out soon.
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