Film Review: Planet of the Vampires (1965)
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Kevin L. Powers asked:
Mario Bava’s PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES is an altogether different type of vampire film especially when it was first released in 1965 when most filmgoers were only used to the Dracula personae of the vampire. Pre-dating the more well known Tobe Hooper classic LIFEFORCE, this film is the first in the sub-genre of sci-fi horror that depicts vampires as a spirit like force that can take over both living and dead bodies in order to live.
The story concerns Captain Markary (Barry Sullivan) who along with another ship and crew are stranded on a desolate planet, which they soon discover, is inhabited by a species of aliens that take over the bodies of the living or the dead and who until now where they stranded on the dead planet. Markary is in a race against time to repair his ship and save his crew from imminent death or possession.
The film has many elements of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and ALIEN while also being seeded in the many different traditions of vampirism. Bava’s greatest asset in this film is always keeping things moving especially in a film with very few sets and the few that they do have are sparse at best.
This is an interesting departure for Bava who is best known for his horror and giallo films. This remains one of the few sci-fi films he ever directed much less also wrote (with Alberto Bevilacqua).
Mario Bava’s PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES is an altogether different type of vampire film especially when it was first released in 1965 when most filmgoers were only used to the Dracula personae of the vampire. Pre-dating the more well known Tobe Hooper classic LIFEFORCE, this film is the first in the sub-genre of sci-fi horror that depicts vampires as a spirit like force that can take over both living and dead bodies in order to live.
The story concerns Captain Markary (Barry Sullivan) who along with another ship and crew are stranded on a desolate planet, which they soon discover, is inhabited by a species of aliens that take over the bodies of the living or the dead and who until now where they stranded on the dead planet. Markary is in a race against time to repair his ship and save his crew from imminent death or possession.
The film has many elements of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and ALIEN while also being seeded in the many different traditions of vampirism. Bava’s greatest asset in this film is always keeping things moving especially in a film with very few sets and the few that they do have are sparse at best.
This is an interesting departure for Bava who is best known for his horror and giallo films. This remains one of the few sci-fi films he ever directed much less also wrote (with Alberto Bevilacqua).
