| View Larger Image | Planet Of The Vampires | Video On DemandDirected By: Mario Bava
| 1 New starting at: | $2.99 |
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| | Binding: | Video On Demand | | Run Time: | 88 minutes | | Studio: | MGM | | Release Date: | December 13, 2008 | | Genre: | Science Fiction | | Synopsis: | A spaceship lands on the mysterious planet Aura to search for a missing vessel. They discover the wreckage and realize that the crew members killed each other. The planet is populated by disembodied beings who need host bodies so they can leave aura and conquer Earth. Like zombies, the dead crew rise and kill off the search team. | | Sales Rank: | 39,651th |
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 45 reviews)
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best-of-breed for 1965 science fiction: spoiler: NO vampires! by J. R. Derry (austin, tx USA)  5 Stars
September 19, 2009
some reviewers pan the film because there are no vampires in it. the title is unfortunately misleading; and given all the alternate english titles this movie has, it's clear producers and distributors had a hard time deciding on a title that best captures the film's thesis. if you're looking for vampires, don't buy this film.
some reviewers pan the film because it doesn't meet the sci-fi film standards of early 21-st century hollywood (in special effects, pacing, and dialogue). this is unfair. in chronology, this film falls between forbidden planet (1956) and 2001: a space odyssey (1968). in a way, this film serves as a tribute to kubrick: watching this film, you can see how high kubrick raised the bar.
and yet, i think this film is very good in its own right. story elements are consistent within the universe portrayed here, and the audience is offered a surprise ending.
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i watched this film once, as a nine-year-old. four decades later, i finally got to see it (i had no idea what the title was, and i had only a nine-year-old's recollection of the story to guide me in my search for it). my memory of the story is way better than the film. but the fact that it stuck with me for so long also serves as a kudo for the film.
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The best part is the ending by S. Mayo  4 Stars
June 27, 2009
Fun, and not bad for the era, with the usual helpings of swiss cheese in the plot department. The ending has a nice twist. The acting could be better, the pseduoscience gets a bit thick (although one bit of the techobabble turns out to be a vague hint about the ending), and the costumes are absurd. It is a little slow at points, but in general, it entertains. The relationship between this movie and Alien is obvious, to the point where I wonder if some of the scenes in Alien were actually homage to this film. The really weak points seem to stem from the translation from Italian to English; word choices are occasionally a bit strange.
Worth the $3 rental fee.
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Fun Italian Space Bites! by James "Scotman" April (Bakersfield, CA)  3 Stars
June 23, 2009
Planet of the Vampires
Quite a cast and crew that produced this one. It's an American International picture, written by the same writer who wrote Angry Red Planet and whose outlines inspired Irwin Allen's Lost in Space: Ib Melchior. And the director, Mario Bava is best known as a horror director, whose work Twitch of the Death Nerve, considered one of the first slasher films, was imitated in American theaters with Friday the 13th. The actor Barry Sullivan I found, was a character actor all through the sixties and seventies, with parts in shows like Kung Fu, Hawaii Five-O and The Streets of San Francisco.
Blue planets whiz by as we sail into the velvet blackness, with the usual violins and weird musical accompaniment.
What strikes me is the roominess of the ship. This was made in 1965, so I expected the effects to be better than a fifties sci-fi flick, but the lack of budget is fairly apparent. The leather outfits with high collars, biker helmets and gray instrumentation were interesting if allowable.
The techie talk is really awesome, the jargon a bit much but fun to listen to. Kinda like the techno-speak on Star Trek. "In sixty fractions of megon, we'll start the landing maneuver." Cool!
They're about to make a routine landing on the planet Aura with their sister ship. Suddenly radio communications are blocked from the sister ship. They are gripped in some kind of gravitational force and land quite hard on the planet below. Good stuff so far. The actual ship model that lands and the lighting a bit cheesy for 1965.
As soon as they land, they start beating each other up! And then don't remember doing it! Are they being taken over by some kind of invisible beings or (shall I say it?) VAMPIRES???? ..
Not really. Despite the title, there are no vampires, just some invisible beings who want to take over bodies, living or dead. They prefer dead and a bit beat-up.
The movie does its best to build suspense but it goes a little long for me. Not a bad chiller on a midnight view.
The twist ending is worthy of Rod Serling.
Definitely worth the rent, though not as thought-provoking as The Angry Red Planet, the undead do have a great time!
Recommended.
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vampires by J. tanquary (california) 5 Stars
April 01, 2009
this movie is a five star and at worst its four any twit give it three or lower is some kind of goof ball
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Space Ghouls... by Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein (under the rubble) 4 Stars
January 31, 2009
Finally, after sitting through so many average to awful italian space epics, PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES comes along! Mario Bava (Black Sunday, Black Sabbath) takes a story about parasitic aliens and creates a colorful, living-dead creep-a-thon. Yes, the acting is over-wrought, the costumes are hilarious, and the sfx are rather silly, but the atmosphere is fairly chilly for 1965 sci-fi (Deceased astronauts rise from the grave, inhabited by a dying race). I especially enjoyed the bleak, twist ending...
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