Beautiful movie, far ahead of it's time.... - Terrore nello spazio (1965) Discussion

[–] richard-III 20 years ago

It's indeed the mother to ALIEN, and far better a picture than IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, father to ALIEN.
All Mario Bava's films are visually stunningly beautiful/

"When there is no more room in the oven,
the Bread will walk the earth."

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] graytay1 19 years ago

I totally agree. I have been becoming more and more of a fan of Bava over the last couple of years primarily because of the look of his films. Planet Of The Vampires is a masterpiece of atmosphere dictated by shadows and colour. Hugely entertaining and not the least bit distracting when it becomes slightly kitsch in parts. Euro film fans really need to see this.
For it's influence on Alien check out the documentary Mario Bava: Maestro Of The Macabre, which compares scenes. This is available on Anchor Bay's very good region 2 release of Hatchet For The Honeymoon and I think seperately as a region 1 disc. It's a very good documentary and also a must for Bava fans and Euro fans alike.

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[–] uvl 19 years ago

You guys are definitely smoking the good sh^t. :-D

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[–] tvbaby2001 19 years ago

Style 9, Story 2, Acting 1 So beautiful to watch. So painful to have to pay attention to.
Totally worth the trouble though.

I have had days infinitely more enjoyable

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[–] kennethleemcdaniel 19 years ago

Hey, guys, this is my first posting here. This is such a wonderful movie to watch, so well done like all of Uncle Mario's work. This movie is totally on an equal footing with Alien, marvelously effective. I love showing this to my friends, along with it's original pairing for double bill release from AIP; Die, Monster, Die.

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[–] teejay6682 19 years ago

the color schemes and set design are the best thing about the film. i wish the acting and characterization were a little better so it wasn't just the style i was enjoying so much. however, those things about the film that people who don't like this film would not like, are a lot more tolerable cause of bava's direction.

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[–] Draconian_Clown 19 years ago

I liked the movie. It was very creative! It seemed to be the basis for Alien ... in a way. The leather vampire babe was hot in the special Italian way.

"I have opinions of my own --strong opinions-- but I don't always agree with them."

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[–] Cooke_Fann 19 years ago

I can't believe it , I thought Alien was an original B--l S--t !!!! They ripped from this Movie TOTALLY!!!! I'm sitting there going this is fricking Alien

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[–] ups34 19 years ago

Ok I'd never even heard of this movie but it was on the monster channel the other day so I gave it a go. I missed the beginning so they had already landed on the planet and 1 crew was gone, so I hadda catch-up. They said something about investigating a signal, then go to the ship with the skeletons lying around... and even missing the start I kept going "man this is just like ALIEN!" Thanks to the posts here I'll be checking out some more of this directors movies :)

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Photiphar 16 years ago

The creepy atmosphere is unforgetable.

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[–] TeeWee30 19 years ago

I've noticed that a lot of the old Technicolor era movies like Cleopatra, Moses, Hercules and the like tend to look better today than movies shot in Panavision from the 70's and 80'. ITA about the overall look of the movie. Those ship-suits would be comparable to any costume design out oday. Look at the X-Men suits. Not that far apart to me.

Most trouble in the world is caused by too much bone in the head and not enough in the back.

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[–] skinky_1999 18 years ago

>I've noticed that a lot of the old Technicolor era movies

I've noticed that, too! It seems Italian film makers were pulling away from that by the early 70's. I loved the Technicolor look of early Giallo films. The Eastman color film proved more economical, but the colors were more muted.

Its an expression of my individuality, & my belief in personal freedom.

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[–] pac-foto 18 years ago

Just watched this on Google and found it pretty awesome, way better than for example Disneys timewaster "The black hole". Suspense and thrill all the way, earned its merits for pioneering the "Alien" idea.

http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=2590518794753217361&q=sci+fi+planet+of+the+vampires

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[–] STEVE-1559 17 years ago

So beautiful to watch.

At times, yes.

So painful to have to pay attention to.

Most definitely.

Totally worth the trouble though.

Highly debatable.

I say all this as a Mario Bava fan. He did some interesting things here with no resources, but not nearly enough to prevent the film from being a colossal bore, only occasionly relieved by moments of the familiar brilliance. Even the best filmmakers have a skeleton or two in their cloests; this is one.

READ MORE HERE: http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2008/03/21/film-review-planet-of-the- vampires-1965

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] LarrupinLou 16 years ago

I actually enjoyed this film. No, it's not a great piece of cimema and is not even close to being Bava's best, but I was never bored while viewing it and it had enough suspense to keep me glued to my chair as I watched it on YouTube last night.

BTW, "Terror in Space" is a far more illustrative title than "Planet of the Vampires," since they weren't really vampires in the way that we think of them.

No blah, blah, blah!

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[–] Barshki 18 years ago

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You're all insane! I just watched the movie, It's HORRIBLE!

The only thing Bava furthured was blinking lights technology.

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"Movie catch phrase!" -Classic Movie

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[–] zombie8 18 years ago

Please try to consider the time it was made.Not fair to compare it to modern films. For 1965 this was a pretty good movie.Cheesy yes.But sci fi doesnt have to be too serious.Take the new BSG for instance,It's so full of itself and full of drama it will one day dissapear up its own butthole. I give POTV 3 stars from 5 :)

"Surely you cant be serious.I am serious ,and stop calling me shirley!"

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[–] Barshki 18 years ago

I have considered the time and I still think it's awful. Metropolis was leaps and bounds better than this and it was a silent era film. SILENT ERA! This was awful on every level.

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"Movie catch phrase!" -Classic Movie

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[–] Xcalat3 18 years ago

agreed

I Worship The Goddess Amber Tamblyn

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] DarthAzathoth 18 years ago

This film looks AMAZING in 1080P!

Gamertag: Darth Azathoth

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[–] jigrig 17 years ago

This film looks amazing when I am not watching it!

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[–] DarthAzathoth 17 years ago

Coming from a fan of 'Krull' that is high praise indeed!

Gamertag: Darth Azathoth

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[–] jayt_26 17 years ago

Barshki, buddy. . .

I think that because the majority of people on this thread think that the film is brilliant and original, you are in a complete minority which would actually make YOU the one that's insane. hehe

I'm going to watch this tonight for the first time. I'm excited; I love Bava and am a little buzzed from pain meds. :)

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[–] jayt_26 17 years ago

I loved it! I can't wait to add it to my Bava collection! (I have Bava Boxes 1 & 2) - hopin' for a third.

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[–] Woodyanders 16 years ago

I agree. Mario Bava's inspired blend of horror and science fiction elements was an obvious major influence on "Alien." I was highly impressed with how well Bava created and maintained a supremely spooky, brooding and misty midnight-night-in-the-graveyard gloom-doom atmosphere on such a tight and limited budget.

"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"

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[–] Jiiimbooh 15 years ago

One thing I thought about was the "vampires". They would have been called zombies if the movie was made today, which would make this movie 3 years before Night of the Living Dead, generally considered the first modern zombie movie. I felt as if the movie wasn't that much about the "vampires" until very late. There were things happening that were connected to the "vampires", but I think they could have had more of a presence. It made the movie feel a bit... unfocused maybe. The script is probably the weakest part of the movie.

Despite the low budget I think they did a great job on the look of the planet.

___
"What does it do?"
"It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it."

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] dawndeadromero 15 years ago

Just saw this for the first time. Gorgeous looking print on the big screen at a sci-fi film festival deal.

As goofy as the film gets, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Quite entertaining. Amazing in it's visual presentation. A great B film, even if it's a bit ridiculous and slow at times. Don't know why I've been ignoring Mario Bava for so long. It's time I started watching more of his films.

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[–] MystMoonstruck 15 years ago

There's an even earlier sci fi zombies movie that rarely gets mentioned:
Invisible Invaders (1959)
IMDb synopsis:
Aliens, contacting scientist Adam Penner, inform him that they have been on the moon for twenty thousand years, undetected due to their invisibility, and have now decided to annihilate humanity unless all the nations of Earth surrender immediately. Sequestered in an impregnable laboratory trying to find the aliens' weakness, Penner, his daughter, a no-nonsense army major and a squeamish scientist are attacked from outside by the aliens, who have occupied the bodies of the recently deceased.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052929/

By the way, I've loved this film since I first saw it on TV in the early Seventies, when it was titled "Demon Planet". I watched it every chance I had. When I watched "Alien" for the first time, by the time they got to the signal from the fog-shrouded planet, I was thinking of this movie. Imagine how I felt when they got to the remains of the gigantic alien pilot! I did not count this against "Alien", which remains one of my all-time favorite science fiction films.

Recycling has always been done in stories, whether fairytales/folk tales, novels, movies or TV series. It's just a matter of how much the viewer knows about what went before. For example, when I saw the trailer for "Daybreakers", I thought of "Thirst, the Seventies vampire film from Australia. When I read about "The Island", I thought of "The Clonus Horror", a TV movie; in that situation, a lawsuit resulted, which didn't surprise me in the least since they are sooooo similar.

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