The Galliott and the Argos are heading for an unknown planet. They are responding to what they believe is a distress signal. The planet is encased in a shroud of fog. During their decent the crew is rendered unconscious. Captain Mark Markary (Barry Sullivan), from the Argos, is the only member of the crew who maintains his senses enough to land the ship. When the other crew members begin to regain consciousness they react violently towards each other. Captain Markary manages to break whatever spell they are under. Each crew member remembers nothing of what happened.
Once everyone is back to normal and they check the outside of the ship to make sure it is OK. Then they receive an SOS from the Galliott. They find where the Galliott handed. The Captain leads a team over a lava marsh to the second ship. Once they reach the other ship they find that the crew have killed each other, including the Captain’s brother Toby (Alberto Cevenini). Four of the dead crew members are on the bridge with the door locked from the inside.
After they bury the crew members that are not locked on the bridge the Captain leaves a couple guards and the rest return to the Argos to get a torch so they can access the bridge and bury the remaining crew members. By the time they return the dead crew members that were locked on the bridge have disappeared.
Back at the Argos the crew tries to figure out what is going on. They come up with questions but few answers. The Captain decides that if there are intelligent beings on the planet, they are not friendly. The Argos sustained some damage and repairs need to be made. They have three days to repair the ship and return home or they may never make it back at all.
Wess (Angel Aranda) is caught trying to disconnect the ship’s Meteor Rejector. Without it the ship is vulnerable to meteors while in space. When the Captain shakes him awake he comes to his senses. Dr. Karan (Fernando Villena) determines that whatever life form is on the planet has the ability to take over one’s will when they are asleep. To add to that the dead have been rising and attacking the living one by one.
While Wess works on fixing the ship, Captain Markary, Sanya (Norma Bengell) and Carter (Ivan Rassimov) investigate the planet. They find the remnants of a ship from another planet. Markary determines that they are not the only life forms that have been lured to this desolate place by a distress call. Markary now believes they were lured to the planet by an alien life form looking to take over their bodies, steal their ship and escape into space. Markary needs to come up with a plan to stop them.
“Planet of the Vampires” was released in 1965 and was directed by Mario Bava. It is an Italian science fiction/horror film. The film is based on the story “One Night of 21 Hours” by Renato Pestriniero. It is a low budget film but Bava used a lot of miniatures and forced perspective as well as swirling fog and colored lights to hide the cheap sets. Bava also had two plastic rocks that he multiplied by the use of mirrors. The whole effect of Bava’s ingenuity resulted in an astonishingly cool looking alien planet.
The big question is whether or not Ridley Scott’s “Alien” 1979 was influenced by “Planet of the Vampires” or not. Having seen both movies and after reading some interpretations illustrating the similarities I have to say I don’t really see it. Many of the similarities illustrated are in the camera techniques used. I don’t think Bava and Scott were the only ones to use them. The parasites in “Alien” use the host as a cocoon whereas in “Planet” they take over the host completely. Both receive a distress call from an alien planet. A search team investigates the planet. Just about every Star Trek reiteration had several episodes that lured the various Star Trek teams to lonely planets for nefarious shenanigans. Both have a giant skeleton at the controls of an ancient ship. OK that fits. In my opinion there are a few similarities that can also be attributed to other science fiction films and television episodes. To pick out just “Alien” seems a stretch to me. Perhaps Scott and writer Dan O’Bannon did see “Planet” and subconsciously incorporated elements into “Alien” but the main plot development of the two films, plus the ending to “Planet” were different enough for me to say no.
Regardless, thanks to Bava, this is a wonderfully filmed Euro-styled, low budget “B” movie. It has the same problems as most low budget films concerning dubbing issues and some of the acting but the cinematography is exceptional and well worth putting up with any shortcomings. That and the surprise twist at the end made it a very enjoyable film. It’s highly atmospheric and creepy enough to keep it interesting.