Rating: 
Summary: A futuristic take on vampires!
Review:
A crew of space explorers investigate a mysterious planet because of receiving a distress call on their radio. Soon, a race of strange vampiric aliens attack some of the crew members, draining their energy and taking over their bodies with minds in a sinister plan of ruling the universe.
From Italian terror master Mario Bava comes a strange and atmospheric science fiction movie that is a different take on vampires but as an alien race with vampiric qualities like draining blood and sleeping under flat rocks just like the vampires of myth sleep in coffins including possession. The costumes are just dazzling for it's time " The swinging 60's", some of the special effects are kind of hokey by today's CGI standards, the photography is nearly flawless and it's music is well done.
The DVD is quite fine on the picture & Sound quality with trailer, so if you want a different kind of sci-fi movie or an unusual kind of vampire movie then this is it.
Also recommended: "Lifeforce", "IT! The Terror from Outer Space", " Vampirella", " Alien Saga", "Predator", " Flash Gordon", " The Thing ( Both 1951 and 1982)", " The Hidden", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", " Barberella".
Rating: 
Summary: Bava's space thriller drips atmosphere; lean but clean DVD
Review: "Vampires from outer space possess the living and resuscitate the dead!" Sounds like an Ed Wood tag line but it's actually the plot of Planet of the Vampires, the sole foray into the 'pure' science fiction genre by gothic horror maestro Mario Bava, best known as the father of the giallo movie and director of the seminal Italian horror masterpiece Black Sunday/The Mask of Satan. Planet of the Vampires overlays Bava's moody gothic visuals on an entertaining pulp SF script penned by Bava, Ib Melchior (Angry Red Planet, Reptilicus, Time Travelers), and a half dozen other writers. The plot (containing some interesting parallels with Colin Wilson's The Space Vampires) is fairly absorbing; there are some well-handled action scenes (and the usual fast zooms); Barry Sullivan is credible as Mark Markery (?!), captain of the spaceship Argus; and Norma Bengell (The Hellbenders) and Evi Marandi (Revenge of the Barbarians, Paris When It Sizzles) are easy on the eyes as Sanya and Tiona (everyone looks great in those black leather space suits). But what really distinguishes this movie are its imaginative visuals and doom-laden atmosphere; Bava's "demon planet" is no gray, dusty moonscape; it looks more like a day-glo hell: twisting, jagged rocks, dripping slime, boiling, smoking pits, the atmosphere dense with slowly swirling clouds of smoke and fog, lit by random splashes of electric blue, green, and red. Inspired moments include: creeping ground-fog used (a la Black Sunday) to signify encroaching evil; the resuscitated vampires ripping off their plastic shrouds in slo-mo; and the humans discovering the gigantic skeletal remains of the planet's former inhabitants. On balance, some of Bava's low-budget in-camera tricks and forced perspective shots, so effectively utilized in B&W in Black Sunday (check out the excellent commentary by Tim Lucas on Image's DVD), fall flat here in color; the spaceship/starfield scenes are only marginally better than the horrible effects in all those crappy Antonio Margheriti-directed Italian 1960s space operas (War of the Planets, Wild Wild Planet, etc.); and the sets suffer from that 'too clean' appearance that usually afflicts historical costume epics. But overall still probably the best pre-2001 SF movie of the 60s and an intriguing look at a different side of Mario Bava, especially for those familiar only with his gothic horror and giallo titles.
As with their other Midnight Movies releases, MGM-UA's DVD package is minimal but of excellent quality. The picture quality of the letterboxed trailer is very good to excellent, if marred somewhat by light-to-moderate speckling and blemishing. French and Spanish subtitles and 16 chapter stops are the only other extras, but the feature itself looks pretty fabulous. The brightness, contrast, and shadow/highlight detail of the 1.85:1 letterboxed source print are excellent throughout. The color by Pathe looks as good as it probably ever did, with rich saturation and reasonably accurate fleshtones. The image is not as razor-sharp as some other similar MGM releases, but more than acceptable. Physical damage is limited to some very light, sporadic speckling. Well worth grabbing for Bava cultists or "silver age" SF aficionados.
Rating:
Summary: Bava's space thriller drips atmosphere; lean but clean DVD
Review: "Vampires from outer space possess the living and resuscitate the dead!" Sounds like an Ed Wood tag line but it's actually the plot of Planet of the Vampires, the sole foray into the 'pure' science fiction genre by gothic horror maestro Mario Bava, best known as the father of the giallo movie and director of the seminal Italian horror masterpiece Black Sunday/The Mask of Satan. Planet of the Vampires overlays Bava's moody gothic visuals on an entertaining pulp SF script penned by Bava, Ib Melchior (Angry Red Planet, Reptilicus, Time Travelers), and a half dozen other writers. The plot (containing some interesting parallels with Colin Wilson's The Space Vampires) is fairly absorbing; there are some well-handled action scenes (and the usual fast zooms); Barry Sullivan is credible as Mark Markery (?!), captain of the spaceship Argus; and Norma Bengell (The Hellbenders) and Evi Marandi (Revenge of the Barbarians, Paris When It Sizzles) are easy on the eyes as Sanya and Tiona (everyone looks great in those black leather space suits). But what really distinguishes this movie are its imaginative visuals and doom-laden atmosphere; Bava's "demon planet" is no gray, dusty moonscape; it looks more like a day-glo hell: twisting, jagged rocks, dripping slime, boiling, smoking pits, the atmosphere dense with slowly swirling clouds of smoke and fog, lit by random splashes of electric blue, green, and red. Inspired moments include: creeping ground-fog used (a la Black Sunday) to signify encroaching evil; the resuscitated vampires ripping off their plastic shrouds in slo-mo; and the humans discovering the gigantic skeletal remains of the planet's former inhabitants. On balance, some of Bava's low-budget in-camera tricks and forced perspective shots, so effectively utilized in B&W in Black Sunday (check out the excellent commentary by Tim Lucas on Image's DVD), fall flat here in color; the spaceship/starfield scenes are only marginally better than the horrible effects in all those crappy Antonio Margheriti-directed Italian 1960s space operas (War of the Planets, Wild Wild Planet, etc.); and the sets suffer from that 'too clean' appearance that usually afflicts historical costume epics. But overall still probably the best pre-2001 SF movie of the 60s and an intriguing look at a different side of Mario Bava, especially for those familiar only with his gothic horror and giallo titles.
As with their other Midnight Movies releases, MGM-UA's DVD package is minimal but of excellent quality. The picture quality of the letterboxed trailer is very good to excellent, if marred somewhat by light-to-moderate speckling and blemishing. French and Spanish subtitles and 16 chapter stops are the only other extras, but the feature itself looks pretty fabulous. The brightness, contrast, and shadow/highlight detail of the 1.85:1 letterboxed source print are excellent throughout. The color by Pathe looks as good as it probably ever did, with rich saturation and reasonably accurate fleshtones. The image is not as razor-sharp as some other similar MGM releases, but more than acceptable. Physical damage is limited to some very light, sporadic speckling. Well worth grabbing for Bava cultists or "silver age" SF aficionados.
Rating: 
Summary: highly regarded director, hope this isn't his best
Review: a major dissappointment, boring, vapid, turgid, etc etc... planet is all mist and people keep dissappearing in and out of it, but unfortunately this isn't 'atmospheric' as the other reviews say, just as gripping as watching paint dry.
And as for that ending... silly is not the word. many people admire this director, that was the biggest dissappointment for me, i hope that the next mario bava film i see is a damn sight better than this one... reptilicus is still worst of this batch of midnight movies though.
Rating:
Summary: This planet is a mixed bag
Review: After watching it, I have to ask why he chose to do it in the first place. It doesn't seem as if Bava were particularly inspired when he shot Planet of the Vampires. As a science fiction film, it's not very visionary-I don't see any speculation on his part about anything at all about the future, except that we will have mastered space travel.
As a horror film, it succeeds even less-there is almost little or no gore. Not that I'm a gore monger (actually I am!), but if you don't create the necessary amount of tension, which this film fails to do, then you have to rely on other means of capturing viewer interest, these being either special effects or violent gore laden scenes.
As a sci-fi/horror film . . .well, it just isn't.
So, what the hey is the film? I read that Bava used the same set design that he had for his Hercules movie (which actually succeeded in being both cheesier and creepier); he could not have been that particularly motivated to do this film. Yet it does have scenes of brilliance. I've yet to encounter a Bava movie that didn't have at least two excellent scenes that blew me away. One of these was when our erstwhile astronauts explored the interior of the alien's ship. I also dug the lighting-the deep reds and blues that have become such staples in many of Bava's films.
Is it worth a DVD purchase? Yes, ...
Rating:
Summary: For Mario Bava completists only!
Review: An amateurish low-budget movie, complete with shoddy special effects, weak sets, stilted acting, and an unbelievably corny script. Perhaps if this film had been made in the '50s, its many shortcomings could be more easily forgiven. As it is, there is not much to recommend here unless you are a fan of Mario Bava and just want to see all his films. As for Bava as a filmmaker, I'm struggling to find the appeal. "Black Sunday" and "Black Sabbath" are certainly worthy films, but the rest of his films I've watched ("Planet of the Vampires," "Hatchet for the Honeymoon," and "Bay of Blood") are miserable, lousy movies that are downright painful to watch.
Rating:
Summary: SAURDAY MATINEE
Review: Classic B movie! Did you like Creature Double Feature, or Elvira... you will love this! Don't forget the 6 pack.
Rating:
Summary: Dull and atrociously dubbed Italian SF/horror
Review: Directed by Mario Bava and based on the short story "One Night Of 21 Hours" by Renato Pestriniero. Along with IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, this also inspired ALIEN. It centers around a space expedition to a barren planet, Aura. But once the crew lands, members suddenly become given to random acts of violence against each other, caused by the "vampiric" mind control the planet has over them.
PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (aka DEMON PLANET) is generally rather daft and wooden and is only saved by Bava's visual flair. Watching this, it feels as though you're watching a long lost episode of DR. WHO. This is the first Bava movie I've seen, I wasn't totally impressed after all the raves I read of BLACK SUNDAY and TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE. Maybe the next film of his I see will live up to my earlier expectations. Personally I just found this to be dull and plodding. And the music score is almost guaranteed to give viewers a migrane.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing SCI-FI Horror (Inspiration for "LIFEFORCE"?)
Review: For those of you who have seen James Cameron's "ALIENS," don't expect the same amount of high-energy excitement; however, I wouldn't call this film "boring." Director Mario Bava is probably best known as a "visual director," or an "artist," since the film is a showcase for his surreal use of multi-colored sets and lighting gels, making it look absolutely unique--like no other sci-fi you've ever seen. I think I might even prefer "PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES" to "FORBIDDEN PLANET," believe it or not--"FORBIDDEN" was, to me, somewhat slow and dragging. This film at least keeps your interest. There is a constant, non-stop eerieness throughout, with ghostly planetary sounds (of unknown origin), with a feeling of foreboding evil; some chills may overwhelm you...some hairs may be raised. It's not scary (i.e., jump-outta-your-seat), but haunting in both its conception & presentation...some concepts in the storyline may have even inspired the 1985 film, "LIFEFORCE." It's only 87 minutes long, beautifully presented in 1:85 Widescreen, and the film print is as crisp and physically flawless as it no doubt looked during its premier in 1965. I once owned this on VHS...full-screen (1:33), and the images were murky and "squashed" like a Godzilla movie. Is the DVD worth the money? Of course, it is...perhaps even a little MORE. If you'd rather rent it first...please do so; either way, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing SCI-FI Horror (Inspiration for "LIFEFORCE"?)
Review: For those of you who have seen James Cameron's "ALIENS," don't expect the same amount of high-energy excitement; however, I wouldn't call this film "boring." Director Mario Bava is probably best known as a "visual director," or an "artist," since the film is a showcase for his surreal use of multi-colored sets and lighting gels, making it look absolutely unique--like no other sci-fi you've ever seen. I think I might even prefer "PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES" to "FORBIDDEN PLANET," believe it or not--"FORBIDDEN" was, to me, somewhat slow and dragging. This film at least keeps your interest. There is a constant, non-stop eerieness throughout, with ghostly planetary sounds (of unknown origin), with a feeling of foreboding evil; some chills may overwhelm you...some hairs may be raised. It's not scary (i.e., jump-outta-your-seat), but haunting in both its conception & presentation...some concepts in the storyline may have even inspired the 1985 film, "LIFEFORCE." It's only 87 minutes long, beautifully presented in 1:85 Widescreen, and the film print is as crisp and physically flawless as it no doubt looked during its premier in 1965. I once owned this on VHS...full-screen (1:33), and the images were murky and "squashed" like a Godzilla movie. Is the DVD worth the money? Of course, it is...perhaps even a little MORE. If you'd rather rent it first...please do so; either way, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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