Terrore nello spazio (1965)

Director:

Mario Bava

Writers:

Mario Bava (original version)
Alberto Bevilacqua (original version)

Release Date:

27 October 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

This was the day the universe trembled before the demon forces of the killer planet!

Plot:

In the near future the two spaceships Argos and Galliot are sent to investigate the mysterious planet Aura...

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Escape | Alien | Tense | Electrocution

Cast

Barry Sullivan	...	Capt. Mark Markary
Norma Bengell	...	Sanya
Ángel Aranda	...	Wess
Evi Marandi	...	Tiona
Stelio Candelli	...	Brad / Mud
Franco Andrei	...	Bert / Garr
Fernando Villena	...	Dr. Karan
Mario Morales	...	Eldon
Ivan Rassimov	...	Carter / Dervy
Federico Boido	...	Keir (as Rico Boido)
Alberto Cevenini	...	Toby Markary / Wan

Also Known As:

Planet of Blood
Planet of the Vampires (USA)
Space Mutants
Terror en el espacio (Spain)
Terror in Space
The Demon Planet (USA) (TV title)
The Haunted Planet
The Haunted World
The Outlawed Planet
The Planet of Terror
The Planet of the Damned

Runtime:

86 min | Italy:88 min

Country:

Spain | Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:T (DVD) (2005) | USA:Approved | USA:Not Rated (DVD) | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 | West Germany:12 (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

America-International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Director Mario Bava used the mirror-based Schufftan Process to combine live action with miniatures and thereby avoiding the costly matte/optical printing techniques.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Toby and Mark duke it out, Toby bumps into and moves the flight seat revealing it to be unattached to the deck.

Quotes:

Capt. Mark Markary: One entire crew lost; two of our own crew gone. Bert dead, Eldon disappeared. And this unknown enemy keeps getting closer!
Dr. Karan: The enemy is also becoming visible.
Capt. Mark Markary: What do you mean by that?
Dr. Karan: Well, you saw something. Something not quite identifiable out of the corner of your eye.
Capt. Mark Markary: Ah, yes. As if it were composed of little globes of light, something fleeting, nothing definite. And the minute I looked at the things directly, they were gone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Atmospheric

Astronauts land on a mysterious planet and encounter many strange and dangerous things--like bodies that don't stay dead.

This Italian movie has horrendous dubbing (except for American Barry Sullivan), silly "special" effects and truly laughable, comic book level dialogue. But it's still worth seeing.

Director Mario Bava was a master at creating spooky atmospheres out of no budget. This was a VERY low budget film (it shows), but he covers it up with beautiful, inventive lighting, tons of dry ice and a really scary score. Also the astronauts wear tight leather outfits which are interesting and some of the Italian guys give good performances--Sullivan is horrible and the women are beyond belief. Also the film contains a few nice jolts and some very scary coming back from the dead sequences.

So, ignore the lousy dialogue and preposterous plot and concentrate on the visuals and sounds. Perfect late night viewing.