Twisted Russian fantasy film depicting a manned trip to Mars.  Propagandistic in tone in that Russian technology is capable of any space voyage/adventure in these films (see “Planeta Burg”) but the reality is that there was a long record of Russian space mission failures.  It seems that the plot formula in a lot of these films is that the homeland’s advanced technology delivers men to the Moon, Mars, and The Stars, but once there, things become unraveled and life or death situations materialize.  A drama is thus born.  There are no shortage of beautiful and eerie landscapes rendered in shockingly [More]
Great Sixties science fiction/horror film from master fantasy director Mario Bava.   Two ships in outer space end up setting down on an alien planet.  After losing communications with one of the ships, the crew of the other vessel goes to investigate.  Many of the occupants are found dead, having seemingly lost their minds and killed each other.  Many crew members cannot be found.  It appears that there is an alien presence on the planet that has taken over the bodies of one of the space crews. A struggle to survive the alien vampires and escape the evil planet and get back into [More]