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1965 Italian sci-fi film directed by Mario Bava.

An odd little movie I saw a long time ago. Dark menacing space opera about a ship that is forced to land on a mysterious planet while investigating the disappearance of another sister ship. The planet itself is spooky to say the least. There is a constant fog hanging about its sharp slippery looking rocks. It seems perpetually dark and sinister. Anyone left to guard anything disappears after being lured away by sounds out in the dark mist.

The dead are buried on the planet sealed in plastic bags, beneath steel plates with interesting looking metal markers standing high and narrow. There is a particularly spooky scene where the markers topple into the fog shortly to be followed by the plates being push up and aside the burial pits. The re-animated crew members tear themselves out of their plastic wrappings and go about menacing those still living.

There is the typical Italian directed battle scene with lots of close ups of people grimacing and sneering at each other. Their weapons are low budget special effects that shoot a burst of flame out of the end so we know who is firing at who.

But the very best scene, worthy of a story all by itself, is when two of the crew members, one male one female, discover an ancient alien space derelict. (This should sound familiar all ready.) They venture inside to find the mummified remains of a large eerie looking alien. (Yes, that’s what I said.) In poking around they accidentally trip some mechanism that closes the ports trapping them inside. They eventually find and use an alien artifact to force a hatch open. This scene alone is exceptional and makes renting the movie worth while. Compare it to more recent domestic "original" productions.

The ship manages to lift off after a fierce battle between the last remaining crew and the re-animated zombie/vampire whatevers. I won't tell you who wins. The movie ends with a key component of the ships propulsion system, namely the "meteorite deflector", being damaged forcing them to land on the next available planet. A planet where the "primitive inhabitants still live above ground in steel and concrete structures" (hint, hint).

One of those movies worth checking out especially with a group of friends that don’t mind throwing an occasional popcorn kernel at the screen. Or watch it alone with all the house lights out, preferable on a foggy night.

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